Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met at an informal breakfast Thursday and vowed to get together again in coming weeks. But the Israeli leader cautioned that serious negotiations were unlikely until the Hamas-led Palestinian government recognized Israel.
"There is the idea to prepare for another meeting in the future ... We will start preparing for it next week," Abbas said, according to the AP.
Olmert and Abbas both attended a breakfast with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Thursday - the first meeting between the two leaders since Olmert's party won parliamentary elections in March.
On his part, Olmert apologized for the deaths of Palestinian civilians in recent Israeli air strikes. At least 13 Palestinian civilians have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past week, including two people in a Gaza house on Wednesday and three children on Tuesday. According to the AP, Olmert said he felt "deep regret for the death of innocent Palestinians." "It is against our policy and I am very, very sorry," he added.
