US Secretary of State Colin Powell ended his peacemaking visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories amid Israel challenging the roadmap and continued violence.
Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, which the Israeli army sealed off only a day after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced measures to alleviate the pressure on the Palestinians.
In talks with Mr Powell, Mr Sharon also refused to order even a freeze on the development of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, let alone dismantling them.
The only fruit of Mr Powell's visit came when it was confirmed last night that Mr Sharon was planning to meet his new Palestinian counterpart, Mr Mahmud Abbas, by the end of the week.
The meeting, possibly on Friday, would be the first between the two veterans since the moderate Mr Abbas was sworn in on April 30th and comes amid Palestinian concern at Israel's refusal to officially accept the conditions of the roadmap.
While Mr Powell urged the Palestinians to take rapid and "decisive" action against radical Palestinian militants when he met with Mr Abbas in Jericho yesterday, he avoided discussing the thorny issue of Israeli settlement activity.
Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath said Mr Powell's visit "has led to nothing new on the Israeli-Palestinian track . . . because of Ariel Sharon's refusal to give a frank or even tacit acceptance of the roadmap.
"Everything has been postponed until after Sharon returns from his visit to Washington on May 20th," said Mr Shaath, who attended yesterday's talks between Mr Powell and Mr Abbas.
But Sharon made it clear he would not budge on the issue of settlements. "Our finest youth live there. They are already the third generation, contributing to the state and serving in elite army units. They return home and get married, so then they can't build a house and have children?", Mr Sharon was quoted as telling Mr Powell.
"What do you want, for a pregnant woman to have an abortion just because she is a settler?", he testily asked Mr Powell.
It is expected that Mr Sharon will discuss the issue of dismantling settlement outposts in the West Bank during his visit to Washington.
AFP