Israelis, Palestinians hold out some hope for cease-fire

Two Palestinians killed today

In this story: Fighting in West Bank, Gaza Steps taken after bombing Meetings with Albright scheduled Differences over 'joint statement' RELATED STORIES, SITES

CNN Correspondents Fionnuala Sweeney and Rula Amin contributed to this report.

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Two Palestinians were killed as gunfire continued in Israel and the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank on Friday, but both sides said that violence had diminished and that a cease-fire apparently remained on track.

In the past six weeks of violence, at least 181 people have died, most of them Palestinians.

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In clashes that followed Friday prayers, a Palestinian man was shot dead at Tulkarem. Another was killed in a clash at Hizme near Jerusalem.

Despite these deaths, officials on both sides expressed some optimism.

"Things are better than they were two days ago," said Nabil Sha'ath, a senior Palestinian negotiator, but he accused the Israelis of being "trigger happy" and firing into three West Bank towns. He added, however, that "the violence is less than before; hopefully, the casualties will be as well."

Alon Pinkas, chief of staff to Israel's foreign minister, said he was "optimistic in our chances to reach some kind of co-existence. But I am very, very cautious and I would say even skeptical, to think that a peace process in the kind and form that we have known for the last two, three, four years, can still go on in the same format."

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat told CNN that he was waiting for the Israelis to make good on their commitments in the cease-fire.

Arafat said he's done his part, "now I'm waiting for them to do their part."

The Palestinian leader added that he was still hopeful.

Fighting in West Bank, Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said while scattered clashes were continuing, it appeared that attempts were being made to implement the cease-fire brokered Wednesday night between Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres.

Palestinian officials canceled two planned marches in Gaza on Friday and on Thursday, Palestinian police moved to restrain rock-throwing demonstrators. Israel pulled back some tanks from around Palestinian areas.

Meanwhile, fighting was reported in several West Bank towns. A clash broke out after a funeral in Hebron in which Palestinians tossed stones and Israeli soldiers responded with tear gas. At least two Palestinians were left in critical condition.

In another clash in Ramallah, several dozen Palestinians were hurt, at least one critically. The IDF said several of its troops had suffered injuries.

About 200 Palestinians broke through a fence near an Israeli military outpost at Karni crossing in Gaza. The IDF said it had fired rubber-coated steel bullets during the clash and armored personnel carriers were redeployed there.

Steps taken after bombing

Security was tight in Jerusalem in the aftermath of a car bombing that killed two people Thursday near the popular open-air Mahane Yehuda market in west Jerusalem. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for that bombing.

Israeli border police guard the entrances to Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem as Palestinian worshippers pray on Friday

At the Al Aqsa Mosque, police barred Palestinian men under 45 from praying at Haram al-Sharif -- what Jews call the Temple Mount -- a site holy to both Jews and Muslims. In the past, young Palestinians have rioted. This time they stood in the street and prayed.

Meetings with Albright scheduled

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat arrived in the United States on Friday, where he will hold meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

"I don't think it is time to assign blame, I don't think it is time to finger point" (at the Palestinians)," said Erakat. "I think it is time to really work and do whatever it takes to have Israel comply with (U.N.) Security Council resolutions."

Israel's Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami met with Albright earlier in the week and said Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was coming to the United States and that Arafat was expected next week.

Ben Ami said the two leaders would meet separately with U.S. President Bill Clinton to discuss ways of getting peace negotiations back on track.

Arafat confirmed that he had been invited to meet with Clinton and said he "hopes to go." The date mentioned was November 9. The Palestinians are now working on the logistics of such a meeting.

Sha'ath, the Palestinian negotiator, said whether Barak and Arafat meet together with Clinton will depend on the success of both in implementing the cease-fire and the understanding both sides agreed to at Sharm el-Sheikh.

Differences over 'joint statement'

Both sides, the Israelis said, were supposed to issue a joint statement calling for an end to violence, but that never happened.

The Palestinian leadership called on Palestinians to use peaceful means of demonstrating. The Israelis released a text of the "joint statement" but Barak never went on television to deliver it.

Arafat told CNN his written statement was sufficient and he had no plans to give a televised statement.

The Palestinian leader on Friday said he was waiting for Israel to "withdraw the tanks and troops to where they were before this started, open the airport, open the roads within the Palestinian areas, end the closure between Israel and the Palestinian areas and allow goods to come into the Gaza Strip again."

Hope remains for Mideast truce deal despite fatal Jerusalem bombing
November 2, 2000
Agreement to implement cease-fire reached, Barak's office says
November 1, 2000
Peres, Arafat will meet, try to end Mideast violence
October 31, 2000
Barak outlines path to peace; Israeli helicopters open fire
October 30, 2000
Palestinian negotiator says violence will stop if Israel withdraws troops
October 29, 2000
Israelis, Palestinians mark one month of clashes
October 28, 2000
Ramallah clash erupts into gun battle
October 27, 2000
Militant group claims responsibility for Gaza suicide bombing
October 26, 2000

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