Ehud Olmert

Israel's interim prime minister, Ehud Olmert, says he hopes to resume peace talks after both the Israeli and the Palestinian parliamentary elections.

Palestinians are to hold their legislative vote on January 25, and Israeli elections are set for March 28.

Mr. Olmert said resuming peace talks will depend on Israel's long-standing demand that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas disarm militant groups.

He said the basis for the talks would be the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, which calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Also Tuesday, Israeli police began forcibly removing right-wing settlers from the West Bank city of Hebron. The settlers have been protesting a court order evicting Jewish squatters from an abandoned Palestinian market in the city.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli troops shot and killed a wanted Palestinian militant in Tulkarem.