JERUSALEM — Israel eased travel restrictions Sunday on Palestinians, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he would probably dismantle illegal settlement outposts soon, as leaders prepared for a summit with President Bush aimed at ending 32 months of Mideast violence.
Palestinian leaders also continued working Sunday to secure a cease-fire agreement from militant groups responsible for hundreds of deadly attacks on Israelis.
In Gaza, meanwhile, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian they say opened fire on them near the Kissufim crossing point. In another part of Gaza, soldiers critically wounded a 17-year-old Palestinian. Earlier, residents said he had been killed. The Israeli military had no comment on that incident.
The summit Wednesday in the Jordanian town of Aqaba will be the ceremonial launch of the "road map" to Mideast peace, a three-phase plan envisioning an end to violence and the creation of a Palestinian state in 2005.
Palestinian, Israeli and U.S. officials have met in recent days to discuss the wording of possible declarations in which the two sides recognize each side's right to statehood and security. The declarations, to be issued at the end of the Jordan summit, are required by the U.S.-backed road map.
Israel's conditional acceptance last week of the plan — the Palestinians accepted it earlier — and the quickly scheduled summit have fueled hopes that the violence that began in September 2000 may be nearing an end. Much depends on whether the Palestinians can rein in militant groups.
A senior U.S. official traveling with Bush to the G-8 summit in France said the president would seek commitments from both sides leading to the implementation of the road map.
"The United States is going to be in a position to assess where progress is being made and where it isn't. And to assess where the roadblocks to progress are and where they are not," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Sharon told his Cabinet on Sunday he would likely commit Israel to dismantling settlement outposts set up in violation of Israeli law, according to an official at the Cabinet meeting.
Palestinians see the outposts as efforts to further expand Jewish settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and create new obstacles to a Palestinian state. Hard-line Israelis defend settlement building with religious and security arguments.
"We have a very sensitive period ahead of us with very complex and complicated aims," Sharon said after the meeting. He tried to silence hawkish members of his Cabinet who have criticized his recent overtures.
"This is my call to you, to act quietly, not to bring up subjects that we don't need to be dealing with right now, to understand that only if we all work together will we be able to reach the results that we are trying to reach," he said after briefing Israel's president on the latest diplomatic moves.
"If we are united and we act quietly, we can, in my opinion, achieve security and, with God's help, peace," Sharon said.
Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, met Thursday to prepare for the summit with Bush. At the meeting, Sharon promised that Israel would lift its two-week closure over the West Bank and Gaza Strip, ease travel between Palestinian towns and release some Palestinian prisoners.
On Sunday, the military allowed some Palestinian workers to enter from Gaza and the West Bank, but thousands more were stopped.
About 3,500 Palestinians holding work permits walked into Israel through the Erez crossing in Gaza on Sunday morning, according to Palestinian officials. Another 3,000 to 5,000 workers entered Israel from the West Bank, Palestinian Labor Minister Ghassan Khatib said.
Palestinians trying to cross a checkpoint between the West Bank towns of Ramallah and Bir Zeit also were forced to leave their cars behind and walk about four miles.
Khatib said the Israeli gestures had little impact on the millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"The continuous Israeli statements seem directed toward public consumption," he said. "In practical terms, there hasn't been any change at all."
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel had received warnings of planned terror attacks and had sent additional soldiers into the West Bank.
He told the Cabinet on Sunday that the military had foiled attempts to carry out attacks in recent days, according to the official at the meeting. Israel stopped three cars packed with explosives trying to enter Israel in the past week, Mofaz said.
Easing the closure depends on continuing calm, Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told Israel TV. "If ... the reaction is the continuing of terrorism, then we can always retract" the measures, he said.
Palestinian officials continued talking with militant groups to secure a cease-fire.
In an interview published Sunday in the London based Al-Hayat newspaper, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said a cease-fire by the militant group Hamas was "probable" in coming days.
The Israelis have demanded Abbas wage a decisive crackdown on militant groups, though Abbas has said he preferred to use persuasion to stop the attacks.
The Israelis have said the crackdown could begin with an agreed cease-fire.
Also Sunday, the Israeli military convicted a Kuwaiti-born man it called a master bombmaker on 66 murder charges. Abdullah Barghouti pleaded guilty to building explosives that led to the deaths of dozens of Israelis and at least five Americans in a series of suicide bombings, said Capt. Raed Shanan, the military prosecutor.