Israel's prime minister Mr Ariel Sharon will meet Palestinian leaders tomorrow with the intention of declaring a ceasefire in the Middle East conflict.
The surprise announcement came after US envoy Mr Anthony Zinni held separate meetings with Mr Sharon and Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat.
The two sides also intend to begin implementation of an American truce plan worked out last year by the CIA Director, Mr George Tenet.
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There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian side although Mr Arafat convened a late-night meeting of his top aides in his West Bank headquarters of Ramallah.
"A three-way meeting will be coordinated, involving the senior echelon of both sides, headed by the prime minister, for the purpose of bringing about a declaration of a ceasefire," Mr Sharon's office said in a statement.
It was not clear whether Mr Arafat, or some of his top aides, would lead the Palestinian side in the meeting.
Repeated efforts to arrange a ceasefire have failed in the nearly 18 months of Middle East fighting. This month has seen the worst violence to date.
Mr Zinni has sounded upbeat since his arrival on Thursday, and Israel has pulled its army out of three Palestinian towns in an attempt to improve the atmosphere.
Many observers had expected Mr Zinni to engage in protracted negotiations before there was any likelihood of a ceasefire.
In a statement after meeting Mr Arafat yesterday, Mr Zinni described his meetings on both sides as positive.
"I sensed everyone is committed to get out of this terrible situation," Mr Zinni said in Ramallah, hours after Israeli tanks rumbled out of the city, leaving a trail of crushed cars and toppled utility poles in their wake.
Gun battles in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Hebron late yesterday underscored the difficulties Mr Zinni faced after a week of some of the fiercest Arab-Israeli fighting in decades.
His two previous missions were derailed by violence.
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