Leaders try to end bloodshed

The UN calls the situation close to "all-out war"

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat are attending US-sponsored talks in Paris in response to the eruption of violence in the occupied Palestinian territories.

At least 60 people, nearly all of them Arabs, have been killed since the violence broke out last Thursday, and a further 1,300 have been injured.

A three-way meeting between US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the Palestinian and Israeli leaders was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, according to US officials.

US bilateral meetings may pave the way to face to face talks

Mr Arafat is under pressure to put a stop to the violent confrontations, in which Palestinian stone-throwers and gunmen have clashed with Israeli occupation forces.

Before agreeing to face-to-face talks with Israel, the Palestinians had been demanding provisions to protect their civilians and for an international commission to investigate the violence.

The whole world has been shocked by videotape showing a 12-year-old boy in Gaza being shot by Israeli troops as he was cowering behind his father last Saturday.

The worst of the latest incidents happened overnight, with two Palestinian policemen killed near Ramallah in the West Bank.

Crisis diary

28 September

Sharon tours Temple/Haram
Fierce clashes spread

3 October

Ceasefire failure

4 October

US-sponsored talks in Paris

5 October

Talks move to Egypt

A number of Israeli outposts in the occupied territories also came under attack, including one at Dugit in the northern Gaza Strip where an explosion injured one soldier.

Isolated clashes have been reported on Wednesday and a large forest fire was raging in northern Israel, apparently set by arsonists in support of the uprising.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has described the situation as close to "all-out war".

Inquiry rejected

Mr Barak has rejected an international investigation into the latest violence, as demanded by Mr Arafat. Justice Minister Yossi Beilin told Israel radio there was no need of "a committee biased against Israel to investigate things".

The Paris talks follow sharp exchanges at the United Nations Security Council between Palestinian and Israeli representatives.

Israel's ambassador, Yehuda Lancry, countered Palestinian allegations that Israeli troops were waging a "brutal campaign" which had broken the Geneva Convention.

The Palestinian Authority called for UN intervention in the crisis, but the meeting ended with a general consensus that peace talks will provide the most viable solution.

Anger spreads

In a sign of increasing Arab anger about the crisis, Syrians hurled missiles at the US embassy in Damascus where an anti-Israeli demonstration was attended by thousands of people.

Hundreds of riot police and security forces intervened and fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, the reports said.

A student who climbed into the compound was arrested after he tore down the American flag, while the crowd shouted anti-American slogans and "Jerusalem is ours".

A Palestinian funeral winds through the streets of Hebron

Radical Arab thinking is suspicious of US peace initiatives which is viewed purely as a way of enforcing Israeli conditions on weaker Arab regimes.

The clashes began six days ago after right-wing Israeli politician Ariel Sharon visited the holy complex in Jerusalem known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary or Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Mrs Albright is expected to join Mr Barak and Mr Arafat for further discussions in Egypt on Thursday.