A meeting between Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Interior Minister Nasser Yousef Sunday evening ended in anger as the two sides failed to make progress on coordinating Israel's Gaza pullout this summer.

It was the first high-level meeting since an Islamic Jihad suicide bombing killed five Israelis in the city of Netanya on July 12.

According to the local Ha'aretz daily, Mofaz demanded that the PNA apprehend those responsible for the ambush which killed an elderly Israeli couple who were on their way out of a Gaza settlement bloc on Saturday.

The two Palestinian militants who shot the couple were themselves shot dead by Israeli forces after their ambush.

"Find those who sent the murderers. If you don't we will," Mofaz told Yousef at the tense session in Jerusalem, an Israeli defence source said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday threatened a harsh military response to any Palestinian violence which may occur during and after Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip, following the murder of the two Jerusalem grandparents.

"Israel will not make its peace with this terrorism," he told his cabinet.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas also denounced the killings, saying they were a violation of an informal seven-month-old truce, and vowed that the PNA will do everything to prevent further militant attacks.

The attack was the latest in the spate of violence ahead of the planned Israeli withdrawal from all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip due to begin in mid August.

In what will be Israel's first removal of settlers from land occupied since the 1967 Mideast War, some 8,500 settlers are to leave the 21 settlements in Gaza and a few hundred more from four enclaves in the West Bank.

The Palestinians are asking the Israeli side to answer their questions relating to the control that the Palestinians will have over border crossings and passages in and out of the Gaza Strip after the evacuation.

They are also asking Israel to provide details of the withdrawal scheduled to begin on Aug. 17, specifically the timetable and maps of the sites to be evacuated.

"It was clear during the meeting that the Israeli side was not serious and cooperative. The Israeli side didn't give any practical answers to the Palestinian inquiries and demands," said the PNA in a statement Sunday.

Palestinian Minister of Civil Affairs Mohammed Dahlan was deeply worried about the post-pullout scenario in Gaza.

Dahlan said in a press statement Sunday that the PNA had not received answers from Israel concerning loosening control of crossings and creating a safe corridor between Gaza and the West Bank.

"Israel, to this moment, has not given clear answers to the Palestinian demands on border crossings and the secure road," Dahlan said.

"If we don't get any responses, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza will turn the Strip into a big prison," Dahlan warned.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during her visit to the West Bank on Saturday, pledged her help to the Palestinian leadership in order to obtain answers and information related to the disengagement plan.

She also urged Israel not to seal off Gaza from the outside after the evacuation.

On a hasty mission aimed at preserving the Middle East truce shaken by the recent escalation of violence, Rice held talks with Sharon and Abbas, urging both to safeguard Israel's pullout.

The top US diplomat said Washington encourages coordination between both parties but indicated that more efforts need to be made.

"Each side is expecting answers from the other," she said, adding Israelis and Palestinians still "need to provide answers to each other" though she was generally upbeat.

"My job is to keep reminding people that they want to have this tied down by the time the withdrawal begins," Rice told reporters.

Source: Xinhua