Powell postpones meeting with Arafat

Powell and Sharon spoke at a joint news conference Friday in Jerusalem.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- A planned meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat was postponed at least 24 hours following the latest terrorist bombing in Jerusalem.

But a State Department spokesman said no firm arrangements have been made for a Sunday meeting.

The decision to cancel Saturday morning's talks was announced after a meeting Friday evening between U.S. special envoy Anthony Zinni and three key Arafat aides, including chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat and Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan.

Halfway through the one-hour meeting, Zinni was called away to take a telephone call from Powell and did not return, the Palestinian sources said.

They said they were informed later of the change in time for the meeting, originally scheduled to take place at 11 a.m. Saturday (4 a.m. EDT).

Dahlan said the meeting was a one-sided one, in which Zinni asked the Palestinians to fulfill their commitment to put an end to the violence.

"The Palestinian Authority is under siege, imprisoned and ridiculed, " Dahlan said, adding that only after an Israeli withdrawal and time for Palestinians rebuild their institutions can it take steps to end violence.

Powell had been under pressure from the Israelis to delay the meeting after a suicide bombing in Jerusalem Friday killed six people and the bomber and wounded more than 60 other people. Sources said Israel, which has been opposed to the meeting from the start, stepped up pressure to call it off.

The latest suicide bombing occurred Friday afternoon at a bus stop in a crowded central Jerusalem marketplace. It came just hours after Powell met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, about two miles from the site.

The blast was the sixth in Israel since a bombing at the start of Passover on March 27 in Netanya killed 28 people. Israel says the attacks on civilians prompted its military campaign in Palestinian towns.

Arafat has 'opportunity' to condemn violence

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In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Powell had called on Arafat to condemn Friday's suicide bombing.

"The secretary condemns in the strongest possible terms today's terrorist attack and expects Chairman Arafat to do so as well," Boucher said.

"It is important that Chairman Arafat does not miss this opportunity to take a clear stand against the violence that harms the Palestinian cause," he said. "In light of today's developments, the secretary will not be meeting with Chairman Arafat tomorrow. In our team's meeting today with the Palestinians, we pressed for an end to the violence and a clear denunciation of terrorism. There has been too much suffering on both sides."

Asked about whether Powell will meet with Arafat Sunday, Boucher said, "We'll see."

A senior State Department official said "Sunday is a possibility," but added, "we haven't made any arrangements."

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that President Bush also had condemned the bombing, which the administration called a "homicide bombing."

Questioned why the White House used the term "homicide bombing" to describe Friday's attack, Fleischer said it was "a more accurate description." Said Fleischer: "It's not suicide, it's murder."

Later, as Powell toured Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms region along Israel's border with Lebanon, Hezbollah guerrillas opened fire with mortar or anti-tank weapons toward Israeli positions, the Israel Defense Forces said.

An IDF spokeswoman said Israeli forces responded with aircraft and artillery. It was unclear whether Powell was aware of the incident.

Powell met with Sharon for more than four hours to discuss how Israel might end its military operation -- called "Operation Defensive Shield" -- in Palestinian towns and camps. But in a news conference after the meeting, Powell said the two men had not yet reached an agreement on a schedule to end the operation.

"There is no timetable," said Powell. "We understand the need for Israel to defend itself. We understand that Israel is under threat from terrorist attack, and we have been supportive. But at the same time, as a friend of Israel, we have to take note of the long-term consequences of the incursions that are under way and (their) effect on the nation in the region and the international climate."

Sharon said he hopes to shortly conclude the operation, which he calls a war against the Palestinian "infrastructure of terrorism."

Israel backs off refugee camp death toll

Earlier, a senior Israeli army officer confirmed that hundreds of Palestinians had been injured or killed in the fierce fighting that accompanied Israel's incursion into the Jenin refugee camp. The IDF clarified that Brig. Gen. Ron Kitrey was referring to the dead and wounded -- not hundreds of deaths, as initially reported.

Israel has put the Palestinian death toll at Jenin at 150 at most. The Israeli military said it did not know exactly how many Palestinians had been killed across the West Bank in the offensive.

The IDF, which says the Israeli military is in full control of the Jenin refugee camp, said 30 Israeli soldiers have died in the operation.

Palestinian sources told CNN it would be impossible for the Palestinians to discuss a cease-fire with Powell "when our people are being massacred."

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said earlier this week that 500 Palestinians had been killed in Jenin and Nablus alone, but Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Gideon Meir dismissed Erakat's estimate as inflated. He said that between 100 and 150 Palestinians had been killed, and that 95 percent of them had been Palestinian gunmen.

Erakat said his estimate was based on reports from Palestinian officials in Jenin and from calls from a host of Palestinian families.

"A real massacre was committed in the Jenin refugee camp," Erakat said. "I appeal to the secretary of state to go there to see for himself so as to enable bereaved families to bury their children -- their daughters , sons, husbands and wives -- who were massacred."

In a statement, Brig. Gen. Eyal Shlein, the IDF commander at Jenin, said, "There was no massacre whatsoever. If we wanted to perform a massacre, we could have taken over the camp in one day. The IDF did not use artillery or aircraft."

Erakat told CNN more than 300 Palestinians were being buried in mass graves in Jenin refugee camps, from which journalists have been barred. He urged Powell to visit the camp "and discover the massacres."

Meir dismissed Erakat's assertion that bodies had been buried in mass graves. The Palestinians have refused the Israelis' request to remove their dead "because they want a story," Meir said.

The United Nations said about 3,000 people in Jenin have been left homeless by the recent fighting. Besides Jenin, Israeli troops still are operating in the cities of Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem. Israeli forces have withdrawn from Tulkarem and Qalqilya, but have encircled them.

--CNN Correspondent Michael Holmes and CNN's Sausan Ghosheh contributed to this report