JERUSALEM?With Mideast violence at its worst levels in 17 months of fighting, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday he was prepared to negotiate with Palestinians on a truce but won’t call off the current army offensive against militants.

The Israeli leader spoke hours after Israeli helicopters pounded Yasser Arafat’s two story, seaside office in the Gaza Strip to rubble. The Palestinian office had been evacuated before the helicopter attack, and no one was injured.

The helicopter attack was retaliation for a Palestinian suicide attack that killed 11 others near Sharon’s Jerusalem residence.

In renewed violence Sunday, three Palestinians and one Israeli were killed in scattered clashes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Sharon has dropped his demand for a week of complete calm before talking about a cease-fire, but made clear the current Israeli military offensive will press ahead.