Israel willing to resume security talks with Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon shakes hands with U.S. diplomat William Burns on Sunday

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel said Monday it is willing to meet with the Palestinian Authority about security issues, one of the recommendations of the Mitchell report aimed at ending eight months of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

But an Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman said no such meeting had yet been arranged.

Earlier, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said U.S. officials -- who said they would join the proposed talks -- had said the Palestinians had agreed to a security meeting.

Meanwhile, senior U.S. diplomat William Burns -- who has been sent to the region by the Bush administration -- held a second meeting Monday with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. The White House has asked Burns to help Israel and the Palestinian Authority agree on a framework for implementing the Mitchell committee report.

VIDEO Sharon talks to the CNN World Report Conference about peace, Arafat and the Mitchell Report (May 29) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) The Israeli settlers throw stones and break car windows (May 29) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    AUDIO CNN's Sheila MacVicar on what U.S. diplomacy hopes to achieve 347K/32 sec. AIFF or WAV sound U.S. diplomat William Burns: U.S. condemns terrorist attacks 455K/42 sec. AIFF or WAV sound    RESOURCES Full text of the Mitchell Committee's report (from the Meridian International Center website) Requires Adobe® Acrobat® Reader™ Click here to download the reader.

That report -- made public last week by the five-man international, independent panel -- made proposals designed to end Israeli-Palestinian hostilities, implement confidence-building measures and eventually resume Mideast peace talks.

Just as he did Sunday, Burns was scheduled to meet with Sharon after talking with Arafat. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer were also scheduled to attend.

During the meeting, Arafat presented Burns with a list of 94 violations the Palestinians say Israel has made of its self-declared cease-fire, announced seven days ago.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said the Palestinians are looking for a "package" that will spell out when all the terms of the Mitchell report are implemented.

"We want to deal as a package. This is the approach, this report cannot be fragmented," said Erakat. "And I say again, it cannot be fragmented, no party can be selective."

The report, which both sides have accepted, calls for the Palestinians to crack down on what it called "terrorists." It also calls on Israel to freeze settlement activity in Palestinian-controlled territories, including what the Israelis call the "natural growth" of those settlements.

Reports of light fighting continued Monday. Two Israelis were wounded when their car was fired on near Nablus in the West Bank, according to Israeli authorities, who said one was "moderately" wounded and another "lightly" wounded.

Also Monday, Palestinians said Israel had staged an incursion into Palestinian-controlled territory in Gaza, bulldozing trees near Karni Crossing.

The Israeli army -- which has said similar incursions in the past were meant to clear underbrush where bombs could be hidden -- said it was still checking the report.

Israel also said it was continuing its policy of "restraint" after the explosion of two non-fatal car bombs in Jerusalem on Sunday. But Israeli officials told Burns that pressure was building and that incidents like the car bombings could not go unanswered indefinitely.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the first attack, and The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine admitted to the second bombing.