Violence continues on Gaza Strip as Israelis bury bus-attack victims

Israeli prime minister-elect Ariel Sharon has attempted to finalise details of a unity government with Ehud Barak.

Meanwhile violence has persisted on the Gaza Strip as Israeli soldiers and a civilian killed in a Palestinian bus attack were buried.

Two Palestinian mortar shells have fallen on a Jewish settlement, and Israeli soldiers have killed a Palestinian who was trying to infiltrate another settlement.

The Palestinian killed near the Kfar Darom, another isolated settlement in Gaza, has been identified as Nasser Hassanat, 23.

He was a member of a Palestinian security force, according to documents he carried.

No casualties were reported in the mortar attack at Netzarim, an isolated enclave in central Gaza.

The settlement had come under mortar attack twice before.

A Palestinian police officer whom Israel believed to be responsible for the two earlier attacks was killed on Tuesday.

Funerals for young Israeli soldiers and a civilian killed on Wednesday by a Palestinian bus driver weighed heavily on politicians working toward a coalition between Mr Sharon's Likud party and Mr Barak's Labour.

After meeting Mr Sharon, Mr Barak was expected to decide whether he would become Mr Sharon's defense minister.

Israeli media reported that he would accept Mr Sharon's offer.