US President George W. Bush toughened his stance on Israel over the huge barrier it is building in the West Bank as Palestinians met today to discuss a truce that could help revive peace talks.
Violence flared at the usually tranquil border with Jordan, where a gunman shot five tourists on the Israeli side before being killed. An Ecuadorian tourist died of her wounds.
With momentum building again towards reviving a US-backed "road map" for peace in the Middle East, Bush urged Israel not to undermine it by erecting "walls and fences" and expanding settlements on occupied land.
But Israel fended off the criticism from its closest ally as well as a call from Pope John Paul to build bridges with the Palestinians instead of walls.
"We have reached a clear and unequivocal decision to build this fence, to prevent the extremists from attacking us," said Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. "We are doing everything we can to put up this fence that will prevent infiltrations."
Palestinians call the barrier of concrete and razor wire a bid to annex land and they welcomed the comments from Mr Bush. He had said the barrier was a "problem" before but took an unusually tough tone during a state visit to Britain.
Further diplomatic pressure on Israel came from the UN Security Council, which voted unanimously for a Russian-drafted resolution backing the stalled road map. Israel had opposed the draft, wanting no UN role in peacemaking since it sees the world body as pro-Palestinian.