Israeli PM Ariel Sharon said today any peace talks with Palestinian leaders depended on whether they could rein in militants, who killed five Israeli soldiers in Gaza in an attack yesterday.
The assault on an Israeli post between the Gaza Strip and Egypt drew missile strikes in a swift reprisal.
Despite its worst military loss in seven months, Israel said it still planned to pull back troops during Palestinian elections on 9 January to help ensure that they went smoothly.
But Sharon said any talks with Palestinian leaders would depend on a halt to attacks. Peace negotiations collapsed in 2000.
'Any development depends on the Palestinian leadership and its actions,' he told visiting members of the U.S. Congress in Jerusalem. 'We want to move forward towards peace, but at the moment we do not see any change among the Palestinians.'
Sharon did not refer directly to Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate Palestinian leader whose election as Yasser Arafat's successor was virtually assured after jailed uprising leader Marwan Barghouti withdrew yesterday.
Israel had ruled out talks with Arafat, accusing him of failing to stop attacks. He denied the accusation and complained that it was impossible to crack down on gunmen because Israel had destroyed Palestinian security forces.
Arafat's death in a Paris hospital on 11 November has raised hopes of talks, but optimists have been dealt a blow by the growing violence in Gaza.
