In Gaza, Hamas dismissed the meeting as useless. Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, fired by Abbas as prime minister after the Gaza takeover, said experience has shown that peace talks bring no benefits. Ahmed Yousef, an aide to Haniyeh, said Monday that secret talks were taking place between Fatah and Hamas to try to find a possible scenario to emerge from the current crisis and resume the so-called national dialogue. Abbas and Olmert also talked about improving the dailylife of Palestinians in the West Bank, including removingsome of the Israeli checkpoints that were set up after theoutbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000. Thecheckpoints are the main tool of Israeli control in theWest Bank, disrupting trade and often causing long delaysfor Palestinian motorists. Erekat said Israel's Defense Ministry is to present a plannext week on easing travel restrictions.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/473306