Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon has again ruled out political discussions with the Palestinians before "a total end to violence".
"We are all in favour of the peace process, but it can only happen if there is a total end to the violence," Mr Sharon said on public television.
MrSharon spoke shortly after a meeting in Cairo between his foreign minister, Mr Shimon Peres, and Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat under the auspices of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Mr Peres told the Palestinian leader he had to honor a pledge of "seven days of zero violence" before the two could embark on further US-brokered peace moves.
The timetable set out by US Secretary of State Colin Powell for the application of the Mitchell report calls for an initial one week of total calm, followed by a six-week period without violence, then a period of several months of confidence-building measures, before a return to peace negotiations.
Mr Sharon hinted that he had not been told of the Peres-Arafat meeting before the Peres trip. "After the meeting between Peres and President Mubarak, I was told that a meeting was planned with Arafat," the prime minister added.
His advisor, Mr Dore Gold, meanwhile condemned the "pursuit of terrorism."
"During the last hours, Palestinians have tried not only to kill Israeli settlers but also their children," he said, referring to the shooting of a school bus carrying settlers' children near Nablus in the West Bank.
"The main message of the Peres-Arafat meeting is that there will be no negotiations while Israelis are gunned down," he said.
AFP