Washington's Middle East peace monitor held his first meeting with Palestinian leaders, hoping to unblock stalled talks on a truce with Israel ahead of a visit this week by US Secretary of State Colin Powell. As Israeli and Palestinian officials met to discuss on a withdrawal of Israeli troops from selected occupied areas, Palestinian premier Mahmud Abbas met in Gaza with the factions in an attempt to broker a ceasefire. But the flurry of talks to kick start negotiations was marred by a late night shooting in central Israel which left an Israeli toddler dead and another child seriously injured. Both sides are under heavy US pressure to end one of the worst periods of violence in the 32-month-old Palestinian uprising and follow a peace "roadmap" promoted by President George W. Bush at a June 4 summit in Aqaba, Jordan. An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman confirmed that Powell was expected Friday for talks with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. Ceasefire talks between Abbas and the Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups, ended late Tuesday without any concrete results, one of the participants told AFP. Senior Islamic Jihad leader Mohammed al-Hindi said the 13 factions discussed a series of issues with Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, including a ceasefire proposal, but no decisions were taken. During the discussion, Abbas proposed the creation of a Palestinian national leadership, made up of representatives of all the factions, he said, an idea which would be discussed in further detail at a second round-table meeting next Thursday in Gaza. Senior Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab said his group was still discussing the idea of a ceasefire, and would examine Abbas' proposal of creating a Palestinian national leadership. Just hours after the end of the talks, a two-year-old Israeli girl died after being shot by unidentified gunmen while travelling in a car close to the border of the West Bank, Israeli medical sources said. Her sister was also said to be in serious condition and her father was suffering light injuries from shrapnel. Gunmen opened fire on the car, which was driving on the Israeli side of the 1967 Green Line, causing it to veer off the road several kilometres (miles) from the northern West Bank town of Qalqilya. Sharon's chief of staff and the head of Israel's internal security service were both in Washington on Tuesday to explain the government's crackdown on Hamas and assassination of Islamic group leaders. Israel is against any temporary ceasefire, saying Palestinian groups would only use it to regroup and rearm. But Washington sees a ceasefire as an important "step along the way." **PHOTO CAPTION*** Palestinian youths carry an injured child in the West Bank Refugee Camp of Askar, near Nablus. Israeli troops shot and lightly wounded two young Palestinians during the clashes of Askar, Palestinian hospital sources said. (AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)