In a move which appeared to highlight Mr Colin Powell's failure to prod the Israelis and Palestinians into any substantive steps toward implementing the "road map" peace plan, Israel yesterday resealed the Gaza Strip, just 24 hours after lifting the closure there as a confidence-building gesture to coincide with the US Secretary of State's visit.
The move meant 25,000 Palestinian workers and several thousand traders were barred from leaving the Strip for Israel. A senior Israeli military official said terror warnings during the night and the "lack of action on the part of the Palestinians in fighting terror" led to the decision.
The need for the Palestinians to clamp down on militant groups and for the Israelis to ease travel, work and other restrictions in the Occupied Territories were Mr Powell's key messages during his trip. However, the Secretary of State, who departed for Egypt yesterday, appears to have left without any tangible achievements.
He did not win a formal Israeli commitment to the US-backed road map which envisages the creation of an independent Palestinian state within three years.
"Mr Powell came without a positive Israeli response (to the road map)...and that is very unfortunate," said Palestinian Cabinet Minister Mr Saeb Erekat, reflecting general Palestinian disappointment with the visit.
In his meeting with Mr Ariel Sharon, the Secretary of State was also told by the Israeli Prime Minister that he opposed another key element in the first phase of the road map - a freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and Gaza, the daily Yediot Ahronot reported. Violence also continued on the ground yesterday, with three Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces in Gaza. The army said troops killed two armed militants before dawn as they placed a bomb near a tunnel used for smuggling weapons from Egypt into Rafah in southern Gaza.
Witnesses said troops shot dead a farm worker in a field close to an army lookout post near Khan Yunis. The army said it had no knowledge of shots being fired in the area.
Palestinian officials also dismissed other gestures by Israel, such as the release of Palestinian prisoners, as empty steps aimed at scoring points with the US.
Several dozen Palestinian security prisoners were freed yesterday as part of some 200 who Israel began releasing on Sunday. The Palestinians claimed most of those released were criminals or had been held for being in Israel illegally.
In a rare positive development, Palestinian and Israeli officials confirmed yesterday that talks on security co-ordination between the two sides were being conducted, including a meeting last weekend between Mr Mohammed Dahlan, who holds a senior security portfolio in the new Palestinian government, and Maj Gen Amos Gilad, who is in charge of Israeli government activities in the territories.
Israeli officials said yesterday there was still no final word on whether Mr Sharon and the new Palestinian Prime Minister. Mr Mahmoud Abbas, would meet before the Israeli leader departs for Washington next week.