JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday that a forthcoming Mideast peace conference would not result in a final deal with the Palestinians and may not take place at all.
His government, meanwhile, moved closer to a punishing regime of electricity cuts to the Gaza Strip in retaliation for rocket attacks.
Israel has consistently played down the gathering called by President Bush and tentatively set for November or December in Annapolis, Md.
The Palestinians are seeking an agreement addressing the core issues: 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.
Addressing Jewish fundraisers from Europe and North America in Jerusalem, Olmert said he would meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today to discuss preparations.
"If all goes well, hopefully, we will meet in Annapolis," he said. "[But] Annapolis is not made tobe the event for the declaration of peace."
Frustrated by near-daily rocket attacks on Israel's south from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, Defense Minister Ehud Barak gave final approval to a new measure - cutting off electricity to the strip for longer periods every time rockets fall, hoping that residents will pressure the militants to halt the barrages.
Saeb Erekat, a negotiator for the West Bank-based Fatah government, appealed for international intervention and called the decision to cut off electricity "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, gradually increasing the cutoff length 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.
Israel supplies about half of Gaza's electricity through 12 power lines, and defense officialssaid the gradual cutoffs would not plunge Gaza into total darkness or target vital institutions like hospitals because the lines supplying them would not be closed.
Electricity inside Gaza has been rationed through rolling blackouts since Israel bombed the strip's main power station in 2006. Many places have their own generators.
Inside Gaza, Israeli forces killed four Palestinian militants Thursday. Two were killed in a clash in southern Gaza, hospital officials and the Israeli military said, and two died when Israeli forces opened fire on militants planting explosives near the Gaza-Israel border, Islamic Jihad said. Israel arrested one militant.
In the West Bank, Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator in the Palestinian territories, toured Nablus, the West Bank's most chaotic city, praising Abbas' attempts to restore order there as a first step toward cementing his rule.
About 3,000 Palestinian police have been deployed in Nablus, and 500 more are to arrive in coming days, Palestinian officials said. Dayton said he was told that the law-and-order campaign in Nablus is to be the test for the rest of the West Bank.
Front Section, Pages 8 on 10/26/2007