Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, under intense international pressure to rein in militants, called in an address to his people today for a halt to all armed activities against Israelis, including suicide bombings.
The Palestinian leader also said the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon must stop its own brutal war against the Palestinian Authority.
"I today reiterate (a call for) the complete and immediate cessation of all military activities. I renew the call to completely halt any activities, especially suicide attacks which we have condemned and always condemned," Mr Arafat said.
It was not immediately clear whether Mr Arafat's reaffirmation would lead Mr Sharon, who has cut ties with the Palestinian leader and declared him irrelevant, to resume contacts or cease a military campaign that has included air raids and tank incursions.
However a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon said Mr Arafat's call for a cessation of armed attacks must be followed by action on the ground.
"I want to judge Arafat by his deeds, not by his words," the spokesman, Mr Raanan Gissin, told CNN.
Earlier Mr Arafat urged Israel to return to peace talks as the sole means to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said he wanted a Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital, next to the Jewish state.
Under world pressure to curb militants behind a recent wave of suicide bombings against Israelis, Mr Arafat said the Palestinian Authority had already declared illegal groups that carry out terrorist activities .
Reaffirming a US-brokered truce that never took hold, Mr Arafat pledged to hunt down and punish those behind armed attacks.
Meanwhile Israeli helicopters fired rockets at Palestinian security buildings in the Gaza Strip early today after Palestinians shelled nearby army bases - despite weekend Israeli military operations aimed at ending such shelling.
As the violence continued, Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres decried Saturday's departure of US envoy Mr Anthony Zinni.
"Today we have a situation in which no-one is bringing the sides together," Mr Peres told Israel radio. "Talking only by shooting ... will be tragic for both two sides."
The US State Department has said Mr Zinni was returning home for consultations in Washington. His mission was accompanied by an upsurge in attacks by Islamic militants on Israelis, followed by Israeli reprisals.
During his two weeks in the region, more than 60 Palestinians and more than 40 Israelis were killed.