JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel threatened Sunday more attacks on Palestinians it regards as "ticking bombs" after killing a senior Hamas militant in the West Bank ahead of an international meeting to try to rescue a battered peace plan.
Hamas, an Islamic group bent on Israel's destruction, vowed "thundering retaliation" for Abdullah Kawasme's death. It said it could not accept Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas's call for a truce with Israel while its men were being killed.
Witnesses said soldiers shot Kawasme, 43, as he got out of his car Saturday in the West Bank city of Hebron.
Palestinians called the killing an assassination. Israeli security sources said Kawasme, one of Israel's most wanted militants, was armed with an assault rifle and troops had attempted to detain him.
"I would like to thank the defense establishment for the successful and highly important operation...in Hebron," Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) told reporters at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
Tit-for-tat violence, including Israeli track-and-kill operations that have also caused civilian casualties, has thrown into turmoil a "road map" to peace affirmed by Abbas and Sharon at a June 4 summit attended by President Bush (news - web sites).
The "Quartet" that drafted the plan -- the United States, the European Union (news - web sites), Russia and the United Nations (news - web sites) -- convened in Jordan Sunday to discuss ways to salvage the road map leading to the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
"We proposed and even demanded that the Palestinians take responsibility and act in the most serious manner against the terrorist organizations, the terrorists and their infrastructure," Sharon said at the cabinet session.
"If this is not done...we will continue our activities to provide security for the citizens of Israel."
"TICKING BOMBS"
Israeli cabinet minister Tzipi Livni said those activities would include striking against militants planning attacks. "Unless the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) takes real responsibility, Israel will have to keep dealing with ticking bombs," she said.
Israel and the Palestinians have been discussing a deal under which Israeli soldiers would pull back in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) and West Bank city of Bethlehem and hand over control to Palestinian Authority security forces.
On the sidelines of the Quartet meeting, a diplomatic source close to the security talks said Israel was considering easing its demand for full control of a key road in the Gaza Strip in favor of joint patrols with the Palestinians.
The north-south road is the key sticking point in the security negotiations.
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), who paid a brief visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories Friday, said such a withdrawal would be an important step toward moving forward on the road map.
Israeli officials have said further pullbacks -- the peace plan calls for an Israeli return to positions held before the Palestinian uprising for statehood began in September 2000 -- -- could follow if quiet prevailed in Gaza and Bethlehem.
Hamas, an Islamic group bent on Israel's destruction, vowed "thundering retaliation" for Abdullah Kawasme's death. It said it could not accept Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas's call for a truce with Israel while its men were being killed.
Witnesses said soldiers shot Kawasme, 43, as he got out of his car Saturday in the West Bank city of Hebron.
Palestinians called the killing an assassination. Israeli security sources said Kawasme, one of Israel's most wanted militants, was armed with an assault rifle and troops had attempted to detain him.
"I would like to thank the defense establishment for the successful and highly important operation...in Hebron," Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) told reporters at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
Tit-for-tat violence, including Israeli track-and-kill operations that have also caused civilian casualties, has thrown into turmoil a "road map" to peace affirmed by Abbas and Sharon at a June 4 summit attended by President Bush (news - web sites).
The "Quartet" that drafted the plan -- the United States, the European Union (news - web sites), Russia and the United Nations (news - web sites) -- convened in Jordan Sunday to discuss ways to salvage the road map leading to the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
"We proposed and even demanded that the Palestinians take responsibility and act in the most serious manner against the terrorist organizations, the terrorists and their infrastructure," Sharon said at the cabinet session.
"If this is not done...we will continue our activities to provide security for the citizens of Israel."
"TICKING BOMBS"
Israeli cabinet minister Tzipi Livni said those activities would include striking against militants planning attacks. "Unless the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) takes real responsibility, Israel will have to keep dealing with ticking bombs," she said.
Israel and the Palestinians have been discussing a deal under which Israeli soldiers would pull back in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) and West Bank city of Bethlehem and hand over control to Palestinian Authority security forces.
On the sidelines of the Quartet meeting, a diplomatic source close to the security talks said Israel was considering easing its demand for full control of a key road in the Gaza Strip in favor of joint patrols with the Palestinians.
The north-south road is the key sticking point in the security negotiations.
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), who paid a brief visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories Friday, said such a withdrawal would be an important step toward moving forward on the road map.
Israeli officials have said further pullbacks -- the peace plan calls for an Israeli return to positions held before the Palestinian uprising for statehood began in September 2000 -- -- could follow if quiet prevailed in Gaza and Bethlehem.
