Amid moves to defrost contacts that were frozen after a Palestinian suicide attack in Tel Aviv on February 25, Israeli Interior Minister Ophir Pines met his newly appointed Palestinian counterpart Nasr Yusef in Jerusalem.
The two agreed to strengthen cooperation and set up joint working committees to discuss ongoing issues, such as the West Bank separation barrier and permits for Palestinian workers to enter Israel, Pines's office said.
But the Israeli minister cautioned that progress would be limited without any concrete developments in the struggle against Palestinian militants.
"We have great interest in deepening cooperation on civilian issues but it will be difficult without seeing progress in the Palestinian struggle against terror elements," Pines said.
It was their first meeting since Yusef was last month appointed the sole man in charge of the sprawling Palestinian security apparatus.
One day earlier, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat and top Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) aide Dov Weisglass reactivated the Israeli-Palestinian committees tasked with following up on promises made at last month's Middle East summit in Egypt.
The committees, which deal with issues such as an Israeli transfer of security control in the West Bank and Palestinian prisoners, are to meet within "days", a Palestinian official said.
Palestinian civil affairs minister Mohammed Dahlan and Israel's coordinator for the West Bank, Major General Yosef Mishlav, were also set to meet Monday.
Such contacts aim to pave the way for key talks between Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz -- the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the Sharm el-Sheikh summit in Egypt.
A Palestinian official said the talks would take place on Tuesday, but the Israeli defence ministry confirmed only that they would be "in coming days".
The Abbas-Mofaz talks would "relaunch the peace process, press the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) to battle against terrorism, and discuss a transfer of authority in the towns" of the West Bank, an Israeli security source said.
At the summit, Sharon and Abbas declared a mutual end to hostilities and Israel agreed to hand over security control in five West Bank cities as part of a series of confidence-building gestures.
The moves had been frozen in the wake of the Tel Aviv bombing.
Both Sharon and Abbas are gearing up for separate meetings with US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) at the White House between late March and mid-April.
Amid international efforts to kickstart the peace process, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende is due next week to visit Israel and the West Bank for talks with Sharon and Abbas.
Despite the air of cautious optimism, two Israeli border policemen were wounded Monday as Palestinian gunmen opened fire at them in the southern West Bank town of Hebron, witnesses and the army said.
One of the policemen was seriously wounded in the incident near the Tomb of the Patriarchs -- a shrine holy to both Jews and Muslims.
In response to the incident, Sharon said Jews would continue to pray and live in Hebron. "We will not tolerate the attempts of terror organisations to prevent Jews from doing that," he told MPs.
Elsewhere, a nine-year-old Palestinian child was killed and another injured when a disused grenade exploded as they played in a field near the West Bank town of Jericho, a Palestinian security source said.
Israeli judicial sources announced that police in February arrested a 20-year-old Arab Israeli on suspicion of planning an attack against the Israeli parliament, an army base and to kidnap a soldier.
He is to be indicted next week.
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