Israel, Palestine presidents meet to talk peace

Israeli officials said the driver was a Palestinian from a village in an area of the occupied West Bank that Israel considers part of Jerusalem. Its residents have freedom of movement throughout the city and Israel.

“The bulldozer driver left a construction site, and hit two cars,” a police spokesman said. “A civilian who saw what was happening, shot him. The bulldozer continued on its way. A border police patrol… continued to shoot and the terrorist was killed.”

The bulldozer also hit a bus. Emergency services said at least 16 people were wounded, one seriously. After the attack, police set up a cordon around the yellow bulldozer and the slumped body of the driver inside.

“This was another attempt to murder innocent people in a senseless act of terrorism,” said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

“I am full of confidence the problems will be resolved,” Peres said after a red-carpet greeting for Abbas, who is engaged in statehood negotiations with Olmert that have shown little sign of progress.

“I feel both sides believe there is no alternative to peace,” Peres said.

Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said before the meeting that Abbas would seek Peres’s help to halt “settlement expansion that is undermining peace talks” that began at a US-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in November 2007.

In his remarks at the presidential residence known as Beit Hanasi, Abbas said: “Despite the passage of time, despite difficulties and obstacles, there is an end to this long conflict.”

Peres said he hoped to reassure Abbas that Israel remained committed to the US-brokered negotiations despite a political crisis revolving around corruption allegations against Olmert that could lead to an early election.

A Palestinian flag and an Israeli flag provided a backdrop as both men posed for photographs.