Israeli Foreign Ministry on Tuesday cancelled a meeting with a high-ranking Norwegian official, one day after he met with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya, local newspaper Ha'aretz said.

Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister Raymond Johansen met with Haneya in Gaza on Monday, marking the country's restoration of political and economic ties with the new Palestinian government. Johansen was the first senior European official to meet with the new government.

In the wake of a shooting incident on Monday near the Karni crossing, in which an Israeli security guard was moderately injured by a Hamas sniper, Israeli government renewed its call for the international community to shun the new Hamas-Fatah Palestinian government, labelling it "a government steeped in terror."

"Following Hamas' first terror attack since joining the Palestinian government over the weekend, it is evident that this is a government steeped in terror which the international community should avoid," David Baker, an official in the Prime Minister's Office, told Ha'aretz on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Ministry has welcomed the decision of the Quartet of Middle East mediators to maintain their aid embargo on the Palestinian government, Israel Radio reported Tuesday.

"Israel has not detected a collapse in the international position against Hamas," the radio quoted an unnamed senior official as saying.

The United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States, the members of the Quartet, have demanded the Hamas-led government recognize Israel, renounce violence and agree to Israeli-Palestinian accords before the embargo is lifted.

Source: Xinhua