Omri Sharon (right) and Rajub, were seen together at Ben Gurion airport (AFP)

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, November 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Israel and the Palestinians were stepping up contacts Friday, November 28, one day after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed to expedite the construction of the controversial separation fence and take further unilateral measures against the Palestinians.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei's bureau chief Hassan Abu Libdeh was due to meet with Sharon's own top adviser Dov Weisglass next week, to pave the way for a first meeting between the two Premiers, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The principle of that meeting appeared to have been secured two weeks ago, following the swearing in of Qorei's new cabinet, but Sharon's tough line in a speech to the press Thursday cast some doubt over the summit.

The Israeli Premier said he would press on with the construction of the separation wall, which has drawn bubbling waves of world-wide criticism for cutting deep into Palestinian land and leaving many Palestinians displaced.

The Palestinians charge that Israel is using the barrier to seize the West Bank's fertile areas and pre-empt the borders of a two-state solution.

"I believe that the Israeli Prime Minister is continuing his policy which aims to impose a reality on the ground through continuing settlements and the building of the wall," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said.

Yet the publicity surrounding an unofficial peace plan due to be signed in Geneva on Monday has forced Sharon to show he is undertaking his own efforts for a resumption of talks.

His son Omri, an MP and influential behind-the-scenes negotiator, met Thursday in London with Palestinian security chief Jibril Rajoub, a close associate of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whom Israel refuses to deal with and has kept confined to his Ramllah presidential headquarters for the past two years.

Rajoub reportedly demanded that the Israeli government halt its construction of the separation barrier in the West Bank, but the Prime Minister vowed Thursday it would be accelerated.

He even took swipe at the Geneva meetings, saying the initiative is a mistake “damaging and embarrassing for Israel”.

Israeli controversial separation wall (AFP)

Meanwhile, another meeting between Israeli and Palestinian officials is set to begin in Madrid, Spain, Israel Radio reported Friday.

The conference, which also includes American, European and Jordanian officials, will discuss an international solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ha’aretz reported.

The paper said that Israel would be represented by Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar and Labor MKs Dalia Itzik and Danny Yatom, and Balad MK Ahmed Tibi.

While the Palestinians will be represented by former security affairs minister Mohammed Dahlan and Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath.

Other Madrid conference participants will include former United States ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, former European Union envoy to the Middle East Miguel Moratinos, and several Spanish government officials, Israel Radio reported.

Senior Palestinian sources were quoted by Ha’aretz as saying that the meeting on the implementation of the U.S.-backed road map was organized following a request by Omri Sharon through Mohammed Rashid, a Palestinian businessman and confidant of Arafat, who recently visited Ramallah following a long absence from the territories.

But observers said the picture is grim, raising fears that Israel’s involvement in the talks could be a red herring.

They cited Sharon insisted on building the separation barrier, less than two days after the U.S. took a rare punitive measure against his settlement policy and the wall construction.

Further to what is seen as challenge to the will of the international community, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim said Thursday that the process of authorizing several Jewish settlement outposts in the West Bank was almost complete.

The Maariv daily quoted political sources Friday as saying Sharon was planning to dismantle isolated Gaza settlements in exchange for the annexation of large Jewish blocs in the West Bank.

Israeli incursions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are also continuing, with four Palestinians, including a 9-year-old boy, killed by Israeli gunfire Thursday.