Israel has agreed to ease security measures imposed on Palestinians "immediately and unconditionally". The Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres announced the move after a meeting with the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. Mr Mubarak said that the two sides were working towards a ceasefire with a view to new peace talks four weeks later.
Mr Nabil Shaath, Palestinian international co-operation minister is hopeful for the Egyptian-Jordanian peace plan to succeed because he said more and more European countries are supporting it.
Gun battles erupted in the Gaza Strip, wounding six Palestinians and one Israeli. Palestinians fired two mortar bombs at a Jewish settlement there, causing no casualties. A bomb exploded near a Jewish settler school bus in the West Bank. Police detonated another in the Israeli town of Netanya. Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said in Cairo that Israel and the Palestinians were still discussing a ceasefire agreement that Mubarak had announced earlier.
"The two sides have agreed to a ceasefire," Mubarak said after talks in Cairo with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. "After a ceasefire of four weeks, negotiations between the two sides will start to reach a solution to the current situation."
Asked later whether Israel and the Palestinians had agreed a ceasefire, Moussa told reporters: "No, they are still talking about the matter." Palestinian officials said they had no prior knowledge of any ceasefire deal and voiced scepticism that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government was ready for peace.
Although this morning's announcement by the Egyptian President that a ceasefire had been agreed proved somewhat premature, the Palestinians say they need more clarification. Significantly Israel has said that it will ease security measures around the Palestinian territories in an apparent gesture of goodwill..
What is certain is that the channel of communication has been re-opened and there is talk of resuming peace negotiations, after an agreed period, if a ceasefire is implemented. But it is not clear whether Yasser Arafat can rein in the more militant Palestinians, and how far Ariel Sharon is prepared to compromise on the question of expanding Jewish settlements.
