US-brokered negotiations in the Middle East are thought to be moving Israel and the Palestinians a step closer towards a ceasefire. Israel has agreed to hand back control of autonomous areas taken in a major push early this month.
The announcement came as US Vice President Dick Cheney arrived for talks and pointedly urged the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, to renounce violence as a political weapon.
Mr Cheney met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during today's visit. At a welcoming ceremony hosted by Mr Sharon, Mr Cheney reaffirmed Washington's commitment to help end nearly 18 months of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed and achieve a peace deal under which a Jewish and a Palestinian state would exist side by side.
Mr Cheney and Anthony Zinni, the US peace envoy currently trying to broker a ceasefire, later met the Israeli Prime Minister over dinner. The US President, George W Bush, said this evening that Mr Zinni was optimistic he was making some progress in efforts to negotiate a ceasefire.
The Vice President is not scheduled to meet Palestinian Authority leaders during his visit, the tenth stop on an eleven-nation Middle East tour aimed at drumming up support for Washington's next moves in a global anti-terror war.
Palestinian officials said that the absence of Palestinian Authority officials from his itinerary demonstrated a US bias toward Israel and Mr Sharon. But US officials had said that there was room in the Vice President's schedule for a meeting with Palestinians.
