By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that he planned to meet again with Mahmoud Abbas to build on their first meeting, where he promised to give the Palestinian president millions of dollars in frozen funds.
As Olmert worked to ease tensions with the Palestinians and sought support from Egypt and Jordan for his push to restart peace efforts, other ministers in his Cabinet were demanding that Israel authorize a military operation to end the ongoing Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
Gaza militants have fired more than 50 homemade rockets into Israel — including two Sunday — since a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians went into effect there Nov. 26.
"We have to weigh a broad, clear operation in order to stop the Qassam (rockets)," Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former army chief, told the Cabinet on Sunday, according to an official at the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing closed-door government deliberations.
Such an operation would almost certainly spell the end of the cease-fire, but during their meeting late Saturday, the Israeli leader also told Abbas that his patience with the rocket attacks was wearing thin.
In a series of goodwill gestures at the two-hour meeting, Olmert promised to ease West Bank restrictions and agreed to release $100 million in frozen funds to Abbas to help ease the Palestinian financial crisis caused by an international aide boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian Cabinet. Hamas, listed as a terror group by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union, has refused international demands to recognize Israel and renounce violence. Abbas is from the more moderate Fatah movement.
"We decided to offer aid to the (Palestinian) civilians who suffer from the failed behavior of their government, which is not a part of the international community," Olmert told the Cabinet, according to a participant in the meeting.
The money, Olmert said, would be transferred in a system that would ensure none of it would reach Hamas. The money would go to alleviate a list of needs the Palestinians will submit, he said.
Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh told The Associated Press that the meeting established the groundwork for a series of future gatherings.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warned that the contacts between Abbas and Olmert must be accompanied by a "significant diplomatic effort."
Olmert has recently sought to restart peace efforts in a move to revitalize his government, which lost popularity in the wake of the summer war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
Last week he met with Jordanian King Abdullah II. On Sunday morning he called Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and the two leaders "agreed that they would be meeting, and they would be meeting soon," Olmert's spokeswoman Miri Eisin said. She declined to provide more details.
Abbas also planned to go to Jordan on Monday and to Egypt on Tuesday to discuss his meeting with Olmert with Abdullah and Mubarak, Abu Rdeneh said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit will visit Israel on Wednesday for meetings with Israeli officials, an Israeli government official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give details about the trip. Egyptian officials did not immediately confirm Gheit's visit.
Abbas also hoped for a domestic boost from the meeting, especially in the face of a recent outbreak of factional fighting in Gaza between militants from his Fatah group and those from Hamas.
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that he planned to meet again with Mahmoud Abbas to build on their first meeting, where he promised to give the Palestinian president millions of dollars in frozen funds.
As Olmert worked to ease tensions with the Palestinians and sought support from Egypt and Jordan for his push to restart peace efforts, other ministers in his Cabinet were demanding that Israel authorize a military operation to end the ongoing Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
Gaza militants have fired more than 50 homemade rockets into Israel — including two Sunday — since a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians went into effect there Nov. 26.
"We have to weigh a broad, clear operation in order to stop the Qassam (rockets)," Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former army chief, told the Cabinet on Sunday, according to an official at the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing closed-door government deliberations.
Such an operation would almost certainly spell the end of the cease-fire, but during their meeting late Saturday, the Israeli leader also told Abbas that his patience with the rocket attacks was wearing thin.
In a series of goodwill gestures at the two-hour meeting, Olmert promised to ease West Bank restrictions and agreed to release $100 million in frozen funds to Abbas to help ease the Palestinian financial crisis caused by an international aide boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian Cabinet. Hamas, listed as a terror group by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union, has refused international demands to recognize Israel and renounce violence. Abbas is from the more moderate Fatah movement.
"We decided to offer aid to the (Palestinian) civilians who suffer from the failed behavior of their government, which is not a part of the international community," Olmert told the Cabinet, according to a participant in the meeting.
The money, Olmert said, would be transferred in a system that would ensure none of it would reach Hamas. The money would go to alleviate a list of needs the Palestinians will submit, he said.
Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh told The Associated Press that the meeting established the groundwork for a series of future gatherings.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warned that the contacts between Abbas and Olmert must be accompanied by a "significant diplomatic effort."
Olmert has recently sought to restart peace efforts in a move to revitalize his government, which lost popularity in the wake of the summer war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
Last week he met with Jordanian King Abdullah II. On Sunday morning he called Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and the two leaders "agreed that they would be meeting, and they would be meeting soon," Olmert's spokeswoman Miri Eisin said. She declined to provide more details.
Abbas also planned to go to Jordan on Monday and to Egypt on Tuesday to discuss his meeting with Olmert with Abdullah and Mubarak, Abu Rdeneh said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit will visit Israel on Wednesday for meetings with Israeli officials, an Israeli government official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give details about the trip. Egyptian officials did not immediately confirm Gheit's visit.
Abbas also hoped for a domestic boost from the meeting, especially in the face of a recent outbreak of factional fighting in Gaza between militants from his Fatah group and those from Hamas.