The planned meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which was set for Oct. 2, has been canceled amid a surge of violence, Israeli officials said Monday.

On Sunday night, Israel canceled a meeting between chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Dov Weissglas, senior adviser to the prime minister, that was supposed to prepare the ground for the Sharon-Abbas summit.

Abbas said earlier Sunday that more preparation was needed ahead of the talks.

"If we want a successful meeting, we should prepare for it," Abbas told reporters. "If this is done, then there is no obstacle to holding the meeting."

The summit would be the first between the two leaders since Israel completed withdrawal from the Gaza Strip on Sept. 12 after 38 years of military rule.

But continuous Israeli airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza since Saturday in response to rocket attacks shattered the ceasefire declared in a Feb. 8 Abbas-Sharon summit in Egypt.

Source: Xinhua