Jerusalem ? Palestinian and Israeli foreign ministers disagreed Sunday over the possibility of a permanent cease-fire, and shortly afterward four Israelis were shot and wounded near Jerusalem.

Palestinian gunmen opened fire on Israeli vehicles between Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Bethlehem, wounding four people, police and rescue services said. Jewish settlers said the wounded were a mother and three children.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent group affiliated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the shooting in a phone call to The Associated Press.

Earlier this month, Israel turned Bethlehem back over to Palestinian security forces under terms of the U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan, which calls on Israel to pull its forces out of Palestinian towns reoccupied during nearly three years of violence.

Since the main Palestinian militant groups declared a temporary cease-fire on June 29, violence has dropped dramatically. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said he proposed ways to make the truce permanent in talks with his Israeli counterpart, Silvan Shalom.

Shaath said he told Shalom that further Israeli withdrawals from West Bank towns and other steps to allow Palestinians freedom of movement could make it possible for the Palestinian government to negotiate a permanent cease-fire with the militants.

“Their reaction was that they were insistent that this is not enough, and they were insistent on the Palestinians dismantling the militant infrastructure,” Shaath told The Associated Press.

A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Shaath and Shalom discussed a permanent cease-fire, though the official said the Palestinians made an outright offer of a permanent truce. He said Shalom rejected the idea.

The Israeli official said Shalom told Shaath that to accept such a proposal would give armed “extremists” the ability to resume attacks, thereby determining the course of peace talks and effectively allowing the militants veto power.

A senior Israeli official said his government’s demand remained the same — the militants should be sent to Jericho.

“They have to be brought to justice,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “The wanted people are part of the security plan that has to be implemented.”

On Sunday, Palestinian security chief Mohammad Dahlan met with Brig. Gen. Amos Gilad, head of the security and political team in the Israeli Defense Ministry, to discuss an Israeli offer to withdraw from Jericho and Qalqiliya, two other towns occupied during the fighting. Israel first proposed this last week, but the Palestinians insisted on a pullout from Ramallah instead.

A statement by Dahlan’s office accused the Israeli side of giving “no genuine commitment” to taking barriers down.

Trying to ease the dispute over prisoners, an Israeli ministerial committee on Sunday approved the release of more than 400 prisoners among the 7,700 Palestinian prisoners Israel holds, including some members of militant groups, officials said.