Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday he hoped that Israel and the Palestinians could put a halt to five days of fierce clashes and work towards ending their half-century conflict, reported AFP.
"We hope that the understandings that were reached yesterday will lead to a halt in the rioting and the bloodshed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," Barak told reporters after a ceasefire agreed between the two sides.
"I cannot say with certainty that this will be the case but I think that there is a better chance that we are heading towards the end of this painful chapter," said Barak.
Barak is due to meet with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Paris on Wednesday in a bid to restore calm after the dealy slashes between Palestinians and Israeli army that left more than 50 killed and thousands injured.
"We are sorry for the life that was taken by this violence and we hope that we together with the Palestinians will be able to put an end to it and to move forward towards solving and putting an end to the conflict," Barak added.
A brief statement from Barak's office said the Paris meeting had come at the initiative of the United States, which has been trying to broker a final Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty before US President Bill Clinton leaves office in January, according to Reuters.
A senior State Department official told reporters that Albright would talk to Barak and Arafat separately at first, added Reuters.
"We'll start with bilaterals between the United States and each of them and take it from there," the official said.
The Palestinian cabinet, in a late night meeting on Monday, had called for urgent US and international intervention to end the worst violence to sweep the West Bank and Gaza Strip since September 1996, according to Reuters - (Several Sources)
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