Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon appeared to turn down a personal appeal from U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday for Mideast truce talks to move ahead this weekend.

Mr. Bush called Mr. Sharon to urge him to allow Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to go ahead with a planned meeting tomorrow with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

But as violence continued in the region, Mr. Peres said Mr. Sharon told Mr. Bush he does not think Israel should be sitting down with the Palestinian leadership. The Peres-Arafat meeting has been tentatively planned for tomorrow at the Gaza International Airport.

Continuing tension in the Mideast could prove to be a sharp thorn on Mr. Bush's path to a proposed international coalition against terrorism.

A Palestinian man was killed and another seriously wounded early this morning during clashes with Israeli forces in the central Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis. Three other Palestinians were wounded, the Palestinian health ministry said.