Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and rival Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh met Wednesday for the first time since factional fighting engulfed the Gaza Strip two weeks ago, but failed to reach an agreement on halting rocket attacks on Israel.  

The two leaders attempted to quell tensions in Gaza amid a fragile truce between Haniyeh's Hamas and Abbas's Fatah movements, as well as resuscitate a ceasefire with Israel that collapsed after Hamas rocket attacks intensified last week.

After the meeting, Hamas said it would continue launching rockets into Israel until the Israeli military ceased its own operations in Gaza and the West Bank, despite Abbas's appeal to the militant group.

More than 50 Palestinians have been killed in factional gun battles that have waged daily in Gaza since early May. The weekend truce came after Israeli forces targeted Hamas figures and installations with air strikes, killing 40 people.

Despite the truce, a key dispute over control of Palestinian security forces remains unresolved.

Haniyeh aide Ahmed Yousef said a renewed ceasefire with Israel would have to be comprehensive and include the West Bank in addition to Gaza.

The previous truce, brokered in November, applied only to the Gaza-Israel border, and Israel rejected repeated Palestinian demands that it also halt arrest raids in the West Bank.

The meeting ended with the two sides agreeing their factions would meet again.

"We are working to recommit to the truce," Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh said.

Haniyeh aide Ghazi Hamad said in a statement that the two leaders called on the international community "to protect the Palestinians and pressure Israel to stop the attacks."

Israeli government officials weren't immediately available for comment because of the Jewish Shavuot holiday.

The meeting came as militants fired two rockets toward the Israeli border town of Sderot on Wednesday, a letup after far heavier barrages in preceding days, including one that killed an Israeli woman.

High security in Gaza for Abbas visit

Israel, in turn, fired missiles at suspected Hamas weapons workshops in Gaza City and the Jebaliya refugee camp. The Jebaliya strike injured six people, including a pregnant woman and a teenage boy.

Salah Bardawil, a Hamas spokesman, said Israel must stop its attacks if there is to be a ceasefire.

"There is no room to talk about a truce while there is Israeli aggression and escalation," he said.

Abu Hamza, of Islamic Jihad's military wing, said Israel ending its attacks on militant groups, extending the ceasefire to the West Bank, and retracting threats to go after militant leaders should all be conditions of a truce.

Abbas arrived in Gaza on Tuesday under unprecedented security precautions. Five identical black Mercedes limousines drove in his convoy to confuse potential attackers. Presidential security forces locked down central Gaza thoroughfares and marksmen staked out rooftop vantage points.

Abbas aides have said they were concerned he might be targeted on his drive from the Israeli border crossing to Gaza City.

Meanwhile, Israeli troops entered Gaza for a short time early Wednesday, searching several homes about a kilometre from the border and briefly detaining seven Palestinians.

Soldiers left behind handwritten notes warning that houses in the neighbourhood could be demolished if Israeli forces determine militants had fired rockets from the properties.

With files from the Associated Press