( AP ) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday that an upcoming Mideast peace conference would not result in a final deal with the Palestinians and may not take place at all. His government moved closer to a punishing regime of power 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 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.
Now continuing violence and escalating Israeli responses threaten to derail the conference before it even happens.
Addressing Jewish fundraisers from Europe and North America in Jerusalem, Olmert said he would meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday to discuss preparations.
"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."
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 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 power "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 Thursday, the military said. No damage or casualties were reported.
Israel supplies about half of Gaza's electricity through 12 power lines, and defense officials said 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.
Palestinians and human rights groups denounced the measure as collective punishment.
One of the groups, Gisha, issued a statement warning that, "Playing with electricity is playing with fire," adding: "Even a brief interruption in electricity threatens the safety and well-being of Gaza residents."
Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Israel had no choice but to take punitive measures. "Should we tell them to continue firing rockets at the same power station that provides them with electricity and continue to bomb the water system that provides them with water?" he asked on Israel Radio. One of Israel's main electricity stations is outside Ashkelon, just six miles from Gaza. Several rockets have exploded nearby.
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.
During a visit to Jordan on Thursday, Abbas claimed Hamas was in contact with Israelis, seeking to normalize relations with the Jewish state. Following closed-door talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II, Abbas told reporters that Hamas representatives have been meeting Israeli officials in the Gaza Strip.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, denied Abbas' allegations, saying he was only trying to legitimize his own contacts with the Israelis.
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.