HIGHLIGHTS: Israel and the Palestinians Agree to a Second Round of Talks Next Week||Washington Talks to continue Through Friday||Occupation Army Lifts Blockade on Rafah||Ex-Minister Quits Israel Parliament||Right-wing Israelis Try to Enter Aqsa Mosque|| STORY: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dismissed the Palestinian Authority on Thursday as a "gang of murder" that must be uprooted as the Palestinians began their highest-level talks with U.S. officials in months.

Meanwhile, talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials on easing Israel's military grip on the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank broke up hours earlier and were quickly followed by new violence.

"Between us and the goal (of peace) stands the gang of murder, terror and corruption of the Palestinian Authority," Sharon said in a televised speech at Israel's National Security Institute.

"The only way to peace demands this gang of murder be uprooted from its political positions," he said.

Sharon repeated calls for reforms of the Palestinian security forces and for transparent accounting of the Authority's use of funds from donor nations before a peace deal can be achieved.

Israel accuses the security forces of participating in attacks in the 22-month-old Palestinian uprising against occupation.

Sharon launched his attack as the Palestinians started their first high-level talks in Washington since President Bush delivered a speech in June urging Palestinians to sideline President Yasser Arafat in elections.

It was not clear whether he was deliberately trying to undermine the Palestinians as they started the talks.

His speech echoed the demands Bush made in June when he said the reforms were conditions for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

PALESTINIANS SEEK TIMELINE TO STATE IN U.S. TALKS

Three Palestinian cabinet ministers met Secretary of State Colin Powell and White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice on Thursday, pledging new efforts to end 22 months of Middle East violence.

But the two sides remained at odds over President Bush's call in June for Palestinians to replace President Yasser Arafat with a new leadership. Palestinian ministers also sought a firm timetable to statehood.

"I reaffirmed to ministers that the president is committed to doing everything possible to find a way forward," Powell said after talks at the State Department.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he was assured during the talks that "the end game is specified with a Palestinian state. We really hope to see an action plan that will define the timeline" for independence.

GROWING HUMANATARIAN CRISIS

Erekat also warned against the growing humanitarian crisis for Palestinians since Israel occupied seven West Bank cities, choking off movement inside and between the urban centers.

He said some 3.3 million Palestinians were living in the "biggest prison" and cited studies showing worsening malnutrition among Palestinian children as families' livelihoods founder.

ISRAEL & THE PALESTINIANS AGREE ON ANOTHER ROUND OF TALKS NEXT WEEK

There was no breakthrough at this week's Israeli-Palestinian security talks, the first for months. But Israel said the sides agreed to another meeting early next week.

Palestinian officials said the talks, focusing on how the Israeli army might withdraw from some Palestinian-ruled areas in exchange for a crackdown on Resistance activists by the Palestinian Authority, were a failure because the Israelis reneged on terms offered earlier.

But blaming the Palestinians for the failure to reach agreement, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Sofer said: "There was no reneging on any previous offer. There will be another meeting next week."

OCCUPATION ARMY LIFTS BLOCKADE ON RAFAH

The occupation army said on Thursday it had lifted a blockade on the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where occupation troops have sought to stamp out alleged Palestinian arms smuggling from nearby Egypt.

But they remained in the seven West Bank cities they occupied in June after a spate of Resistance bombings in Jerusalem.

EX-MINISTER QUITS ISRAEL PARLIAMENT

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami quit parliament Thursday because of dissatisfaction with his Labor Party's role in the government led by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

Ben-Ami, who served as foreign minister under Ehud Barak, opposed Labor's decision to join Sharon's coalition. Ben-Ami has repeatedly called on Labor to leave the government, which he says has no plan for reaching peace with the Palestinians.

Ben-Ami was active in peace negotiations when Barak was prime minister and participated in U.S.-sponsored talks at Camp David in 2000. The talks collapsed just two months before a current round of fighting erupted.

Ben-Ami said Thursday that in the end, Israel and the Palestinians would have to return to the proposals being considered at Camp David.

The resignation takes effect in 48 hours.

RIGHT-WING ISRAELIS TRY TO ENTER AQSA MOSQUE

A right-wing Israeli legislator attempted to enter Jerusalem's most bitterly contested religious site, the Aqsa Mosque, which stands on what orthdox Jews call, Temple Mount, but was turned back amid scuffling between his supporters and police.

Michael Kleiner and several hundred supporters sought to enter the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, a site that has been off-limits to Jews and other non-Muslims since the current round of Mideast fighting erupted there in September 2000.

Kleiner attempted to enter two separate gates, but both were locked. Pushing and shoving broke out between Israeli police and Kleiner's supporters, and several were detained and suffered minor injuries.

Kleiner eventually left the area

PHOTO CAPTION

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses journalists after a meeting with Palestinian top negotiator Saeb Erekat (L) at the State Department in Washington, August 8, 2002. Palestinian ministers met with Secretary of State Powell and White House national security adviser Condoleeza Rice in the highest-level contacts since President George W. Bush laid out his aim to disregard Arafat in June -- a goal supported only by Israel. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang
- Aug 08 5:07 PM