But in a sign that he may be about to line up concrete action against hardline groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, moderate Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas was to travel to Gaza City later Tuesday where he would host a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"This meeting will focus on the issue of the security... and what steps the government should take on the ground," a close aide to Abbas told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Abbas and his security chief Mohammed Dahlan have pledged to take on the hardliners in the wake of a massive suicide bomb on a bus in Jerusalem a week ago which left 21 people dead and hammered the final nail into the coffin of a seven-week-old truce called by Palestinian factions.

There has been little sign of action so far after orders were issued to confiscate the groups' weapons after the Jerusalem bomb. Israel has dismissed the demolition of tunnels in the Gaza Strip used to smuggle arms from Egypt as little more than a publicity stunt.

Abbas' room for manoeuvre has been limited by a continuing struggle with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for control of the security apparatus.

His move to Gaza is seen as an attempt to distance himself from Arafat who is confined by the Israelis to his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Tuesday that there could be no hope of progress in the US-backed "roadmap" for peace plan until Abbas moved to dismantle the infrastructure of the militant groups.

Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians swore vengeance Monday at the funerals of four militants slain in an Israeli helicopter attack as Israel vowed to press its campaign to wipe out hardline leaders.

The nearly three-year-old confrontation showed no signs of abating, with Israel locked into military mode and the Palestinian government bogged down in a power struggle between Yasser Arafat and his moderate prime minister.