AIDES to Israel's Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, were working frantically last night to arrange a meeting between the two leaders, in a bid to avert a repetition of the unprecedented gun-battles that swept through the West Bank and Gaza yesterday and buried the Middle East peace process.
The fighting, which left at least 45 Palestinians and 11 Israelis dead, was the worst since Israel captured the territories in the 1967 war. Mr Arafat described the violence as "a real massacre", and said his figures showed 69 Palestinians killed.
After an evening telephone conversation with the Mr Netanyahu, Mr Arafat gave orders to his loyalists to try and calm tempers. But he also reportedly told Mr Netanyahu that he retained control over only 80 percent of his forces - which would leave 6,000 armed policemen no longer heeding his orders.
Israel declared a state of emergency, called up extra soldiers, and sent tanks and helicopter gunships into the territories yesterday, to reinforce troops who battled for most of the day with many of Mr Arafat's policemen and other Palestinian gunmen. The worst clashes were on the Israel-Gaza border, and in the West Bank city of Nablus, where 40 Israeli soldiers remained holed-up last night in a Jewish shrine, Joseph's Tomb, surrounded by Palestinian policemen.
The furious and prolonged fighting marked a dramatic intensification of violence that broke out earlier this week, following followed Mr Netanyahu's decision to open a new entrance to an underground tunnel that runs alongside the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City. An aide to the Prime Minister, Mr David Bar-Illan, last night adamantly ruled out closing the tunnel, saying that to do so would be to demonstrate "that terrorism and the murder of Israelis pays dividends.
Israel insists the new opening was merely to enable a freer flow of tourists. But among Palestinians it has long been rumoured that the tunnel is being planned for use by Israel to dig under the holy sites atop Temple Mount. The tunnel was the straw that broke the camel's back," said Mr Ahmed Tibi, an adviser to Mr Arafat. "Israel must re-seal it immediately; that will reduce tension right away. And then we can start talking."
The permanent members of the United Nations Security Council urged Israel last night to close the tunnel and President Clinton intimated that such a move would be sensible. There were reports too that the US Secretary of State, Mr Warren Christopher had directly asked Mr Netanyahu to shut the tunnel but had been turned down.
Although intelligence chiefs had warned Mr Netanyahu of the sensitivities attached to the tunnel, he evidently underestimated the likely reaction. Last night he cut short a trip to Europe, and flew to Tel Aviv and convened an emergency cabinet session, which continued past midnight.
Mr Netanyahu, his ministers and Israeli security chiefs held several telephone conversations with Mr Arafat and in the afternoon Palestinian radio stations broadcast a message from Mr Arafat to his troops to use their weapons only in self-defence.
The fierce escalation of violence was seized upon by Ham as and Islamic Jihad two radical Islamic movements - which issued leaflets urging their followers to intensify the conflict.
For the most part yesterday, Israeli forces stayed outside those areas of the West Bank and Gaza formally handed over to Mr Arafat's control in the course of the last three years' peace efforts. But military sources said greater Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory would be inevitable if the violence continued.