EREZ CROSSING, Gaza (CNN) -- A summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat failed to make a hoped-for breakthrough on Thursday because of a disagreement over maps defining the latest Israeli land transfer, Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy said.

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Mideast peace

The two leaders met for over two hours at the Erez Crossing between Israel and Gaza. A news conference with the two leaders was canceled and the Palestinians left without any comment.

The two sides had been scheduled to announce that Israel was going ahead with a transfer of another 6.1 percent of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinians were unhappy with Israel's choice of territories to hand over.

Peace outline deadline in doubt

CNN's Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers reports that the Palestinians are understood to be furious that instead of prime real estate, the Israelis want to turn over sparsely populated land far from Jerusalem.


Israel's Levy says his nation is still committed to withdrawal from the disputed land

But Levy said the Palestinian land demands are contrary to existing peace deals. Still, he said Israel remains committed to agreements to turn over land to the Palestinians.

"The Israeli government stands very well-committed and accurately committed (to the agreement) as it was written," he said. "We are not severing any contacts with the Palestinians."

Arafat and Barak were supposed to work out an outline for a peace treaty by February 13. However, both sides say it's unlikely they'll be able to meet the deadline.

"It's a formidable task," U.S. Mideast envoy Dennis Ross said after meeting separately with Barak and Arafat into the early hours of Thursday to try to bridge the gaps.

The United States has said that once the sides made significant progress, the leaders will be invited to Washington where U.S. President Bill Clinton will aid negotiations.

Similar negotiations at Camp David in 1978 led to the breakthrough peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.

Borders, refugees, Jerusalem key disputes

The biggest issues between the Israelis and Palestinians are borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the future of Jerusalem, which is claimed by both sides as their capital.

The first four of 10 days of marathon discussions aimed at hammering out a framework agreement yielded little progress. The Palestinians have flatly rejected Israel's proposal for a final border because it would leave Israel the Palestinians want. The Palestinians have not budged from their opening position demanding that Israel withdraw from all of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.