An official with Olmert indicated Israel would not hit back.

"Israel will not succumb to this provocation but will monitor the situation carefully," the official said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Ban, in a brief statement, said he was closely monitoring the situation in Gaza, where 80 percent of the population is supported by the United Nations. "The world is gravely concerned about the deteriorating situation in Gaza and in the region," he said.

On Saturday, the US consul-general in Jerusalem, Jacob Walles, said an international aid embargo imposed after Hamas won parliamentary elections last year will no longer apply to Abbas' government, and that he expected it to be lifted by next week.

Israel's Channel 10 TV reported that Olmert and Bush would discuss an aid package to Abbas that will include lifting the embargo, financial assistance and weapons. The report, which did not cite its sources, said Bush will ask Olmert to make other concessions such as dismantling roadblocks in the West Bank.

It's less clear how the United States and Israel will deal with the new rulers of Gaza.

Israeli officials have rebuffed calls from the right to reoccupy the Gaza Strip now that Iranian-backed extremists are solely in charge there. At the same time, Israel says it will allow food and other basic supplies into Gaza to avoid a humanitarian disaster.

"We will take into consideration all the humanitarian needs in Gaza," Olmert told Ban, according to an Israeli official at their meeting. "We will not intervene; we will not move forces, but we will not stand by and say that the lives of innocent civilians are not our concern."

With Hamas on the other side of the Israeli-Gaza border, it's not clear how the two sides will coordinate the passage of goods and people. In the past, Israel dealt only with Fatah personnel at the borders.

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