Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged the Palestinians yesterday to rein in militants after an attack killed two Israelis, calling it a condition for Israel relaxing its grip on the West Bank.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad condemned the attack and said several suspects had been detained by security forces. In a statement issued yesterday, Islamic Jihad and Hamas jointly took responsibility for the attack. Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed at a US-sponsored peace conference last month in Annapolis, Maryland, to launch negotiations with the goal of reaching a statehood agreement by the end of 2008.

But Olmert has said Israel will not implement any agreement until the Palestinians meet their obligations under the long-stalled ?road map? peace plan to rein in militants in both the West Bank, where Abbas?s Fatah still holds sway, as well as the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. ?We do not intend to make any compromise on these (security) issues?, Olmert said.