The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, said yesterday he was still committed to peace as he made a brief visit to Europe amid fears that a fragile US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire could collapse.
"We are prepared for painful compromises for real peace, peace for generations," Mr Sharon told a joint news conference with the German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, after they met in Berlin.
The German leader in turn urged Israel to show more flexibility in the matter of Jewish settlements, a major irritant to Palestinians. Ever sensitive to Germany's awkward relationship to the state set up in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust, Mr Schroder added that his suggestion of greater flexibility was only a friendly piece of advice, not a request or demand.
In a bloody backdrop to Mr Sharon's visit, Israeli soldiers killed one Palestinian and critically wounded another in the West Bank.
The fatal shooting took place outside an Israeli settlement. Palestinian hospital officials, quoting witnesses, said soldiers shot dead a 39-year-old Palestinian and wounded a 17-yearold as the two were playing soccer in the Palestinian town of Al-Bireh, close to the settlement of Psagot.
A spokesman for Jewish settlers in the area said Palestinians had shot at the settlement and at a military jeep, drawing return fire from soldiers that hit two Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Mr Sharon attended a memorial service with Mr Schroder at the suburban rail station at Grunewald, from where Berlin's Jews were deported to the gas chambers under Hitler.
"The experience of the Holocaust makes clear the importance of our right to self-defence and to control the destiny of our people," Mr Sharon said after laying a wreath at the station.
The visit to Europe came a day after Mr Sharon's cabinet decided to step up targeted strikes against Palestinian militants despite US and European condemnation of the policy.
The decision could hurt Mr Sharon's chances of persuading Mr Chirac and Mr Schroder to press the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, to abide by the tenuous truce and crack down on militants and Syria to rein in Hizbullah guerrillas.
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, yesterday underlined US opposition to targeted strikes against Palestinian militants.
In a meeting last night in Paris President Chirac warned Mr Sharon against "weakening" the position of Mr Arafat, saying it would be "counter-productive" in the search for peace in the Middle East.
More than 1,000 demonstrators had gathered in Paris to protest against Mr Sharon's arrival and show support for the Palestinian uprising in the Occupied Territories.