The Israeli cabinet was due to begin discussion of the agreement on Monday but, only hours before the meeting, the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said he was still awaiting what he described as an important guarantee.

He said a "vital element" of the Palestinian anti-terrorism plan required under the accord was missing from the plan submitted to the US government on Monday by the Palestinian Authority.

Lyse Doucet: Israel still refuses to release prisoners

Mr Netanyahu did not reveal precisely what he is waiting for, but later Israeli Defence Minister, Yitzhak Mordechai, said the main problem was the failure of the Palestinian Authority to arrest 30 suspected killers of Israelis.

A senior Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, has called for American intervention to force Israel to ratify the peace agreement.

The BBC Jerusalem correspondent, Lyse Doucet, says Palestinians are growing impatient with what they see as predictable Israeli procrastination.

Security blueprint

Mr Netanyahu said the cabinet would not convene approve the deal until the Palestinians have presented a complete blueprint for fighting Islamic militant groups.

"If I receive it, I'll convene the government," he said. "I won't show the ministers an incomplete agreement."

In an interview with Jordanian radio, Ahmad al-Tibi, an adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Aarafat, accused the Israeli premier was "flirting with the extremist right."

"We expected him to side with 75% of the Israeli public who supported this agreement," he said.

Vote due

Expansion of Jewish settlements is also raising tensions

The agreement reached last month in the United States envisages Israeli troop withdrawals from the West Bank in return for Palestinian security guarantees.

A Israeli cabinet vote on the peace deal was expected to take place on Wednesday.

The deal will also have to be approved by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, before it can proceed. It is due to vote on 12 November.

This raises the prospect of a new delay in approving the land for peace deal with the Palestinians and disruptions to the agreement's 12 week timetable.

Prisoner release delayed

It also means a delay in the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

On Monday, the day the peace accord was to go into effect, Mr Arafat agreed to Mr Netanyahu's request to delay the start of the deal so the agreement could be approved.

In return Mr Netanyahu the Palestinians that despite the delay he would do his best to carry out the first Israeli troop pullback in the West Bank on or around 16 November - the original date stipulated in the agreement.

Meanwhile the US government is asking Israel for more information about the construction of 200 new homes in Kiryat Arba, a Jewish settlement on the outskirts of Hebron, which began on Monday.

Both sides have pledged to avoid unilateral actions which could jeopardise the peace deal - but the Palestinians regard building work in disputed areas as Israeli provocation.