Difficult second meeting for Sharon, Abbas

"All of these measures that we are willing to accomplish are subject to the security situation," said Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Sharon in remarks made to CNN. "And as long as terrorism continues to run rampant ... there's no way we can move forward."

It was the first meeting between the two since a February summit at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh buoyed hopes for a resumption of peace talks between the sides after almost five years of violence. But a rash of attacks by Palestinian militants has eroded an already delicate cease-fire as well as a good deal of trust between the sides.

Joined by a group of aides and seated on opposite ends of a long table near a courtyard in the prime minister's residence, the leaders looked tense and sober. At a press conference in Ramallah following the meeting Palestinians complained the Israeli offers did not meet their expectations.

"What was presented to us was not equally general or serious. Overall, what was presented to us was not convincing, was not satisfying at all," said Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, in a news conference in Ramallah carried on the CNN. "It was a difficult meeting."

The summit contrasted with Ms. Rice's positive assessment of cooperation on the pullout and her announcement of an agreement the demolition of settler homes.

"Substantively, on the ground, it does nothing," says a Palestinian negotiator who didn't be named. "You can be optimistic about the technicalities of the disengagement, but is it really going to create the momentum everyone thought it would? No."

Just hours before the meeting, Israel's army arrested 52 Islamic Jihad militants throughout the West Bank, ending a moratorium on roundups that was adopted in order to maintain a calm with the Palestinians. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told reporters on Tuesday that the operation was made necessary by a spate of recent attacks on Israelis by Islamic Jihad militants.

"When I noticed that Islamic Jihad is carrying out terrorist acts, and isn't a partner to the calm there was no other way but to approve a firm operation against terrorists," he said. "The operation will continue in every place and at all times."

Islamic Jihad militants was believed to be responsible for an ambush of an Israeli car in the West Bank town of Baka al-Sharkiyah on Monday which killed Yevgeny Reider, a resident of a nearby Jewish settlement.

Later on Monday, a would-be suicide bomber was stopped at the Erez border crossing in northern Gaza. Israel said that the woman had instructions to detonate an explosive belt at an Israeli hospital where she was being treated for burns.

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