Tony Blair yesterday received another harsh lesson in Middle East politics on the latest leg of his exhausting diplomatic mission.

Israeli forces killed two more Palestinian militants just as he arrived in the country in his attempt to breathe new life into the peace process.

Mr Blair took his message that it was time for the bloodshed to stop and the talks to resume to meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

But before he had even started the discussions, it was announced that Israeli helicopter gunships had opened fire on a taxi in the West Bank, killing two suspected Palestinian militants.

The latest "targeted killings" by the Israelis came as another setback to Mr Blair's hopes of reviving the stalled peace process after his mauling on Wednesday by Syria's President Bashar Assad over the bombing of Afghanistan.

Following his meeting in Gaza City with Mr Arafat, the Prime Minister issued an impassioned appeal for all sides to come together to bridge the "gulf of misunderstanding" between the West and the Arab world.

Mr Blair drew on his own experience of Northern Ireland to insist that eventually the two sides would have to talk. "Back in the 1970s, there were bombs going off in mainland Britain," he said. "People dying in pubs and clubs.

"The bloodshed went on, hundreds of people killed every year. Twenty years later, finally people understood we had to talk to each other."

Earlier, following his meeting in Jerusalem with Mr Sharon, Mr Blair came as close as he could to condemning the "targeted killings" of Palestinian militants without provoking a rift with Israel.

"I believe it is important that any measures that are taken in relation to security are measured and proper in accordance with international law," he said.