Israel put the transfer of security control in parts of the West Bank on hold yesterday after Palestinian forces in the Gaza Strip failed to prevent a volley of mortar attacks by Hamas.

Palestinians had been preparing to take control in the city of Ramallah, as well as Qalqilya, Jericho and Tulkarem on Tuesday but talks between Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and former Palestinian security minister Mohammed Dahlan on the issue on Monday night broke up without agreement.

"Mofaz and Dahlan did not arrive at an agreement but they decided to transfer all the issues for more negotiations after Weisglass gets back from Washington," said Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat told AFP.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's chief advisor Dov Weisglass is currently in Washington where he has held talks

with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Weisglass has been heading the Israeli delegation at negotiations with Erakat, whose main task has been to arrange a summit between Sharon and new Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.

Israel had appeared ready to hand over responsibility to the Palestinians in parts of the West Bank after they had managed to put a halt to attacks by militant groups in the Gaza Strip.

However a spate of mortar shelling by the radical Islamist group Hamas on Monday, in response to the killing of a Palestinian schoolgirl, has underlined the limitations of the Palestinian forces.

Israeli sources said Mofaz had told Dahlan there would be no transfers in the West Bank until there was a complete halt to the mortar attacks in Gaza.