Clashes despite Mid-East deal

Mr Clinton now wants wider peace talks back on track

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have made an eleventh-hour agreement to end nearly three weeks of bloodshed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

We should have no illusions about difficulties ahead

President Clinton

At the end of the emergency Middle East summit - at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt - US President Bill Clinton said both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would call publicly for an end to the violence.

Mr Clinton said both sides would take "immediate and concrete measures" to end confrontation.

If it turns out, God forbid, that it did not lead to a decrease in violence... [then] to my sorrow... we will know what to do in any situation

Ehud Barak

But the violence in the territories has yet to be halted.

In the latest incident, Israeli forces fired rockets on the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip following a shootout with armed Palestinians, the French news agency AFP reported.

Implementation

Although accepted by both sides, the agreement is unsigned.

Under the accord:

• the Israeli army is to pull back its soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza and end the closure of the Palestinian-controlled areas
• a fact-finding committee is to be set up to investigate the responsibility for the clashes
• the US will consult in the next two weeks about how to get the peace process back on track
• Gaza Airport is to be reopened

Both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders said the test of the agreement would be in its implementation.

At least 105 people have been killed in the violence

Mr Barak said that if the violence did not stop, Israel would "know what to do".

The Israeli leader also said the main aim of the agreement was "to halt the violence".

On his return to Gaza, Mr Arafat said he expected "an accurate and honest implementation" of the agreement.

He said the fresh violence in the Palestinian territories was "all against the accord".

However, leaders of Mr Arafat's Fatah movement have said that the uprising will continue.

Two killed

In the latest clashes, two more Palestinians were killed - a policeman shot in clashes with Israeli troops in Gaza and an olive-picker shot by Jewish settlers near the West Bank town of Nablus, witnesses said.

Many Palestinians are opposed to the Sharm "conspiracy"

An Israeli border policeman was critically wounded in exchange of gunfire at Gilo in east Jerusalem.

At the Erez crossing point, hundreds of protesters threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with bullets and tear gas.

Thousands marched throughout the territories calling for violence against Israel.

"No to the summit" and "Let's blow up Israeli buses" were among chants heard.

At least 105 people have been killed in the last three weeks.

Human rights session

In Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Commission is holding an emergency session in Geneva to discuss the violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

UN human rights investigator Giorgio Giacomelli - who has just visited the region - reported that Israeli forces appeared to have indiscriminately used excessive force in cases where there was no immediate threat to their lives.

Israel has criticised the two-day session - requested by Arab and Muslim countries - saying it will not help to end the violence.

Israel is not a member of the 53-nation commission.