Israeli and Palestinian security officials were meeting the US Central Intelligence Agency chief, Mr George Tenet, in Cairo yesterday for talks on ways to end violence and clear the way for progress on a last minute peace initiative by President Clinton.
Meanwhile, bloodshed continued in the West Bank. A young Palestinian woman was shot and killed, while Palestinian hospital sources said Israeli troops also wounded a 10-yearold boy in the head.
US President Bill Clinton will send his special envoy Mr Dennis Ross for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week, a senior US official said yesterday. But the official acknowledged it would be difficult to reach a peace deal before Clinton leaves office on January 20th.
Mr Ross was expected to leave shortly, possibly today, and would meet separately with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Mr Tenet has played a pivotal role in Israeli-Palestinian security talks in the past, reflecting the deep involvement of the Clinton administration in trying to end the conflict.
In a statement issued in Beirut, the militant Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, castigated the Palestinian Authority for taking part in the Cairo meeting "whose goal is to abort the intifada . . . and liquidate [Islamic warriors] for the objectives of the Zionist occupier".
Both Israel and the Palestinians say they doubt if President Clinton, the main mediator in seven years of peacemaking, can forge an accord before transferring power to Gov George W. Bush.
In Amman, visiting Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat won backing yesterday from Jordan's King Abdullah on the issue of the refugees.
"Finding a fair solution to the refugees issue that guarantees the right of return and compensation . . . is a key condition to achieving a peace that is acceptable to the peoples [of the region] and that guarantees regional stability," the Jordanian state news agency quoted the king as telling Mr Arafat.
Mr Abu Rdainah, a senior Arafat adviser, said the Palestinians would not accept a phased or partial agreement on key issues. "We need a permanent deal. This is the only way for peace and security to be achieved," he told reporters after returning to Gaza with Mr Arafat.
David Horovitz adds: As Israeli and Palestinian security officials were meeting in Cairo, the Israeli authorities were yesterday issuing allegations that Mr Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, and his military intelligence apparatus, masterminded the bombing of a bus in Tel Aviv last month in which more than a dozen Israelis were injured.
The alleged bomber, who is in Israeli custody, was named as Mr Abdallah Abu Jabr (25), a Jordanian national. The Israeli authorities say Mr Abu Jabr said he was given the device, and told what to do, by Fatah and Palestinian military intelligence personnel in Nablus.