JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday that Israel would not cause a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip despite its plan to carry out limited power cuts to the territory in response to Palestinian rocket attacks.
Olmert made the pledge in a two-hour working lunch with Abbas at the Israeli leader's Jerusalem residence, a government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed to media coverage.
Frustrated by near-daily rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled strip Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday approved cutting off electricity to Gaza for steadily increasing periods every time rockets hit Israel, in the hope that residents would pressure militants to halt the attacks. He gave no timeline for implementing the measure.
Friday's Olmert-Abbas meeting was one of a series aimed at working out differences between the two ahead of a U.S.-sponsored peace conference, but it was far from clear if the apparent good chemistry between them would yield concrete results.
The two have recently begun meeting about every two weeks -- a breakthrough after seven years of fighting and diplomatic paralysis.
Abbas walked into Olmert's home, signed the guest book and shook hands warmly with his host. They smiled at each other and spoke quietly, and at one point Olmert put his arm around Abbas' shoulders. Then they sat down for lunch at a table adorned with red and yellow flowers, with four Palestinians and four Israelis sitting on either side.
A day earlier, Olmert sought to lower expectations for the regional meeting -- expected to take place in Annapolis, Md., in November or December -- saying it would not result in a final peace deal with the Palestinians and it might not take place at all.
By all accounts, Olmert and Abbas have developed a good working relationship in recent months. However, Palestinians complain of slow progress in coming up with a joint document before the peace conference.
In violence Friday, Israeli forces killed five Palestinian militants in separate incidents in the Gaza Strip, including one airstrike in Gaza City.
Palestinian officials said they hoped Abbas and Olmert would be able to overcome sharp differences over the content of a pre-conference statement.
The Palestinians are seeking an agreement addressing the core issues at the heart of the conflict: final borders, the status of disputed Jerusalem, and the fate of Palestinian refugees. They also want a timeline for creation of a Palestinian state. Israel wants a more general document, saying it is premature to address many of these issues.
The United States wants Olmert and Abbas to present the joint statement at the conference to pave the way for a full resumption of peace talks.
"Today we expect the Israelis to stop putting obstacles preventing us from reaching a joint statement for the fall summit," Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an Abbas spokesman. "Today they will evaluate what the negotiation teams have achieved and they will try to narrow the gaps between the two teams."
Addressing Jewish fundraisers from Europe and North America in Jerusalem on Thursday, Olmert said he would discuss the summit with Abbas but hinted there was still a chance the conference wouldn't take place.
"If all goes well, hopefully, we will meet in Annapolis," he said. "(But) Annapolis is not made to be the event for the declaration of peace."
Palestinians and human rights groups have denounced the plan to cut power as collective punishment.
Saeb Erekat, a negotiator for the West Bank-based Fatah government, appealed for international intervention and called the decision "particularly provocative given that Palestinians and Israelis are meeting to negotiate an agreement on the core issues for ending the conflict between them."
The Israeli plan is to cut electricity for 15 minutes after a rocket attack, then increase the length of the cutoff if the barrages continue. Israeli officials would not say when that would begin.
Despite the threat, Palestinians fired at least eight rockets and 10 mortar rounds into southern Israel on Thursday, the military said. No damage or casualties were reported.
There was no disruption of power to Gaza but Israeli forces continued operations against militants there on Friday and Palestinian officials said five gunmen were killed.
One militant from Hamas and two from Islamic Jihad were killed by aircraft supporting troops in central Gaza, Palestinians said. Another Hamas man was killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers near Jebaliya in northern Gaza, Hamas said, and Islamic Jihad said one of its men died in an overnight clash in southern Gaza.
In Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas government, said the meetings between Abbas and Olmert are meant to distract from Israeli attacks and sanctions. He said the Mideast conference would offer nothing to the Palestinians.
"These meetings have become a cover for the continued aggression against the Palestinian people," Haniyeh said after Friday prayers in Gaza City. "We warn against the dangers of falling into the traps of American-Israeli policies."
Also Friday, Hamas took responsibility for a shooting two days earlier near a West Bank Jewish settlement in which an Israeli soldier was seriously wounded -- an indication the group could be stepping up its militant activity in the West Bank, where Abbas's Fatah movement has been ruling by itself since Hamas' bloody takeover in Gaza in June.
