Two senior European Union envoys were heading home from Israel this evening after failing to secure a ceasefire or a meeting with besieged Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
"We are going to the airport because I have to go back to Spain immediately," Spanish Foreign Minister Mr Josep Pique told reporters after a one-day trip which included talks with Israel's foreign and defence ministers.
Mr Pique, who was accompanied by EU foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana, had earlier criticised Israel's decision not to allow any meeting with Arafat, who is trapped in his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ruled out a meeting, saying earlier on today that the Israeli cabinet had decided to keep Arafat "isolated" in Ramallah.
Mr Solana and Mr Pique, whose country heads the EU's rotating presidency, flew to Israel today on a mission to increase pressure on all sides to obey a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities and a return to peace negotiations.