Israel and the Palestinians planned to resume talks tomorrow on US President Bill Clinton's proposed parameters for a final peace deal, a senior Palestinian negotiator said this evening.
Earlier Israel sealed off the Gaza Strip and said it had called off a session of peace talks with the Palestinians after a Jewish settler was found shot dead.
Witnesses said Jewish settlers in Gaza set fire to Palestinian homes, fields and greenhouses in retaliation for the killing of Roni Tsalach, 32, who had been missing since yesterday.
Armed settlers used their rifle butts to smash windows of Palestinian houses and others fired their guns from the top of sand dunes in an area under Israeli security control. No injuries were reported.
In the West Bank village of Salem, Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian during a confrontation with rock throwers, Palestinian witnesses and hospital sources said.
The latest unrest set back Israeli-Palestinian efforts to try to end nearly 16 weeks of fighting and put peacemaking back on track before US President Bill Clinton leaves office on Saturday and Israel elects a prime minister on February 6th.
Israeli officials said they would not hold peace talks with the Palestinians scheduled for Monday because of the violence but security talks might be held. Palestinian officials said they had not been informed of any plans to meet.
But Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said peacemaking must continue.
"The only way out, in addition to the necessary security steps, is a political agreement (with the Palestinians)", he told Israel's Channel One television. "We must continue along this path", he added.
Reuters