Military

DATE=11/03/2000

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L)

NUMBER=2-268791

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICE AT:

INTRO: Israel says it is giving Palestinian leaders more time to implement a truce after fighting that left more than 165 people, mostly Palestinians, dead. As VOA Correspondent Meredith Buel reports from Jerusalem, clashes are continuing, but Israeli officials say there is evidence the Palestinians are trying to stop the violence.

TEXT: After a late night meeting of top Israeli security officials, Prime Minister Ehud Barak decided to give the Palestinian Authority more time to end the bloodshed.

Israeli radio says the security cabinet gave Mr. Barak the authority to take stronger measures if the violence continues.

Both sides issued written statements calling for an end to the clashes, but a planned simultaneous announcement of the truce did not occur.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami says it is now up to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to implement the truce.

/// BEN-AMI ACT ///

Maybe he is unable to bring all his people to accept this deal or maybe the question remains still open if he is unwilling or unable to control the situation. What is being done, well not much. We are just waiting for him to do his part in the deal. We did our part. The tanks were pulled out from areas that they should not be there, originally.

/// END ACT ///

President Arafat did condemn Thursday's car bombing in Jerusalem that killed two Israelis. The militant Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Israel says it is still committed to the truce despite the bombing, but insists the Palestinians must capture militants recently released from prison.

Negotiations between Mr. Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres led to the agreement both sides say they hope will end the violence.

Mr. Arafat says he wants the Israelis to implement the agreement brokered last month by President Clinton at the summit in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt.

/// ARAFAT ACT ///

First of all, the main item, which I discussed with Mr. Shimon Peres, is the accurate and honest implementation of what had been agreed upon in Sharm el-Sheik.

/// END ACT ///

The Israeli Army says tanks were used in overnight firefights with gunmen in the Palestinian territories. Palestinian protests also continued in the West Bank and Gaza.

A top advisor to Mr. Barak, Danny Yatom, says despite the continued clashes there is evidence the Palestinians are trying to calm the situation. Both sides say the next 48-hours will be critical to see if the agreement holds. (SIGNED)

NEB/MB/GE/PFH