Jerusalem ? U.S. officials were reviewing Yasser Arafat’s statement Saturday expressing “deep condemnation” of terrorism to determine if the Palestinian leader had met the conditions for a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell.

“He made the statement and we are looking at it,” said a senior U.S. official traveling with Powell. “We expected him to condemn terrorism. … Now he has made a statement.”

After a suicide bombing Friday in Jerusalem, Powell called off talks scheduled for Saturday with Arafat, and indicated a meeting was possible Sunday if Arafat denounced terrorism and the latest attack.

Arafat’s statement, issued in Arabic, specifically condemned that bombing, which killed six people.

“We are condemning strongly all the attacks which are targeting civilians from both sides and especially the attack that took place against Israeli citizens yesterday in Jerusalem,” the statement said.

Earlier Saturday, Powell issued a statement calling on Israeli forces in the West Bank to “exercise the utmost restraint and discipline and refrain from the excessive use of force.”

A top Arafat aide, Hassan Abdel Rahman, said in Washington that Arafat wanted to cooperate with Powell also needed to hear from the Bush administration a condemnation of Israeli military’s actions against Palestinian civilians. Palestinians allege many civilians have been killed in the massive Israeli operation to wipe out militant networks in the West Bank.

Israeli forces moved into more West Bank villages Saturday, and sporadic fighting continued, especially in Nablus where seven Israeli tanks began shelling the main local government complex.

Powell met with Christian religious leaders and aid workers while awaiting Arafat’s response.

Rene Kosirnik, head of the Red Cross delegation to Israel, said Israeli forces on the West Bank were subjecting the Palestinian people to “collective punishment.”

“The whole population should not suffer so much,” he said after meeting with Powell.

Kosirnik singled out the refugee camps near Jenin, saying conditions were especially bad and that Israel was denying access to the Red Cross.

Richard Cook, West Bank field director for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, said dead bodies were piling up.

Powell and Arafat were supposed to meet Saturday in Ramallah, where Israeli forces have confined Arafat to his headquarters. Powell called off the sessions, saying through his spokesman that “it is important that Chairman Arafat not miss this opportunity to take a clear stand against the violence that harms the Palestinian cause.”

Following a meeting Saturday with Christian church leaders at the American consulate, Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan said Powell had told the clerics he would meet with Arafat. Powell quickly disputed that account.

“We are examining what we are going to do and we’re going to make a decision later in the day,” Powell said.

Powell had come to Israel in hopes of ending the bloodletting with a cease-fire and repeated declarations of his support for a Palestinian state. He said the Palestinians had to be given hope.

He also has advised Israel that hunting down terrorists on the West Bank would not provide security  only a settlement with Arafat would accomplish that.

Younan, the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jerusalem, said Powell indicated a meeting with Arafat would take place.

“If he doesn’t, how can we hope to have a solution without the Palestinian leader?” Younan told reporters.

Following his meeting with five officials of U.N. and Red Cross aid groups, Powell announced the United States would contribute another $30 million for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency on top of the $80 million already contributed annually.

Through the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Bush administration is providing $62 million in assistance for health care, water system repairs and emergency food aid, Powell said.

“We call upon the international community to do all it can to help at this time of exceptional Palestinian need,” he said in a statement.

The statement contained Powell’s demand for Israeli restraint, which he said was necessary in order to “ensure that civilians are protected and to avoid worsening the already grave conditions inside Palestinian areas.”

Powell said the administration was “particularly concerned at the humanitarian situation in Jenin.”

In a meeting Friday, Powell was unable to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to provide a timetable for withdrawing Israeli troops from Palestinian cities and towns, although he continued to press the matter.