The escalating violence in the territories is expected to dominate the agenda at Tuesday afternoon's summit meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem, local newspaper Haaretz said.

Islamic Jihad (holy war) militants killed a Jewish settler in the West Bank on Monday and an Israeli soldier in Gaza the day before in response to Israeli aggression.

Sources in Sharon's office said that he intended to tell Abbas that he was deeply concerned about the PA's "inaction" in the face of the escalating violence in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Sharon, the sources said, will demand that Abbas and his Interior Minister, Nasser Yousef, who will accompany him to the meeting, present a detailed plan for how the PA security services intend to prevent attacks on soldiers and settlers during Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in August.

He will also warn Abbas that he will order the Israeli Defence Force to use every means necessary to prevent attacks on Israeli targets during and after the withdrawal.

Sharon is also sticking to his position that it is not the time now to discuss implementing the US-backed road map peace plan after the disengagement.

The next step, he will tell Abbas, will depend entirely on the PA's efforts to end the violence and on the success of those efforts.

In particular, he will demand that Abbas disarm the militant groups and prevent the launching of Qassam rockets into southern Israel.

Part of the meeting will also probably be devoted to finalizing the agreement that Sharon and Abbas have reached regarding the razing of the settlers' houses to be evacuated under the Gaza pullout plan.

Sharon has vowed to carry out the disengagement plan to remove all Gaza settlements and four of about 120 in the West Bank beginning in mid August.

Both Sharon and Abbas have promised to coordinate the planned withdrawal to ensure it goes smoothly.

Tuesday's summit between the two leaders will be their second meeting since they met in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Feb.8 to declare a ceasefire.

Violence has dropped sharply since Abbas won militant groups' commitment to maintaining calmness in March.

Source: Xinhua