Military

DATE=11/11/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L)

NUMBER=2-269111

BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

///Editors Please adjust casualty figures as warranted in the intro///

INTRO: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak heads to Washington to meet Sunday with U-S President Bill Clinton, who is trying to get both sides back to the peace table. Israeli soldiers and Palestinians were locked in gun battles in Gaza Saturday after Palestinians ambushed an Israeli patrol near a Jewish settlement there. In the fighting today (Saturday) three Palestinians were killed and eight wounded and two Israeli soldiers were wounded. At least 200 people have died in more than six weeks of bloodshed, most of them Palestinians. We have more from V-O-A correspondent Laurie Kassman in Jerusalem.

TEXT: Both sides blame each other for the violence. A truce implemented more than a week ago has not managed to stop the bloodshed.

As the violence continues unabated, Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, prepares to meet with President Clinton in Washington. Mr. Barak did not sound optimistic before he left Israel, warning that negotiations could not resume until the violence ends.

Mr. Barak's meeting with President Clinton follows Mr. Clinton's talks Thursday with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Mr. Arafat is pushing for an international peacekeeping force. Israel rejects the proposal, but Palestinian officials say the peacekeepers would be stationed on Palestinian territory.

U-S President Bill Clinton is trying to get Israel and the Palestinians to resume their peace dialogue. Mr. Barak says the Washington talks are another effort to end the violence and does not expect the meeting to lead to a renewal of negotiations.

A leading Palestinian lawmaker and top Arafat advisor, (Ahmed Korei, Pron. Ahkk med Koh ray) insists Israel meet certain requirements before peace negotiations resume. He says Israel must first stop all Jewish settlement activity, implement a truce deal agreed upon in Egypt last month and accept an international peace force.

The Palestinians also want the United Nations to have a role in the peace process. As of now the U-S government has taken the lead role in mediation efforts. (Signed)

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