As clashes continued into Friday, Israeli and Palestinian leaders were bargaining through a number of intermediaries on terms for ending the Palestinian uprising and returning to the Oslo peace process. While Israeli officials appeared to be softening their positions, PLO chief Yasser Arafat was raising the stakes for a resumption of negotiations, and engaging is some trademark double-speak with Israel and the Western world.

Compared to prior weeks, there has been a flourish of contacts between Israeli and Palestinian officials in the past three days, both direct and through third parties, concerning how to reduce the level of violence. And although Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has said he refuses to renew peace talks until the violence has stopped, he has lowered his standard for gauging when the conflict has abated enough, and began offering concessions that clearly involve final-status arrangements.

This includes a report today by the Barak-friendly HA'ARETZ daily that he is now willing to bend on his previous demand for an "end-to-the-conflict" agreement and would settle for further interim arrangements that postpone crucial decisions on Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees. The idea of such a limited agreement has been broached before and likely would provide for Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state within borders to be agreed upon, hopefully before US President Bill Clinton leaves office.

In addition, Barak indicated in an interview with ISRAEL RADIO on Thursday that negotiations with the Palestinians could resume once there is a "significant" reduction in the violence, as opposed to his prior demands for a total cessation of hostilities. Barak insisted that "some shots fired in the wilderness" would not stop the negotiations. Barak also explained that sometimes the best response to violence is to "bite your lip."

After meeting with his security cabinet Wednesday night, Barak decided to continue his policy of restraint in response to Palestinian attacks, explaining that he does not want to play into the hands of Arafat, who is trying to "drag us into an escalation that will invite international intervention."

Barak also appears to have given some ground in the face of Palestinian demands for an international force to be deployed in the disputed territories to "protect the Palestinians." In a statement late Thursday, Barak's office said Israel would not object to supervision of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians by international observers once a peace accord is reached.

Meanwhile, in a development that the press is touting as a sign of movement, Arafat said yesterday after talks with outgoing US special Mideast envoy Dennis Ross that he hoped peace talks can resume before Clinton leaves office on January 20.

In addition, after Muslim noon prayers today in Gaza, Arafat told Western reporters, "We are exerting every effort to prevent any element from firing from Area A," an acknowledgement of reports that he had finally ordered a cease-fire. "We are trying our best to get our people to stop shooting. Orders have been issued regarding this by the Palestinian National Security Council," he added without elaborating.

The orders supposedly were meant to resolve a key problem accurately described by the AP today: "Gunfire from Palestinian-controlled areas has been a daily feature of the current unrest... Palestinian police under Arafat's Palestinian Authority have often joined Tanzim militiamen, part of Arafat's Fatah political movement, in firing on Israeli military positions and settlements."

Arafat agreed at the emergency Sharm e-Sheikh summit in October and on several other occasions in recent weeks to order a cease-fire to all Palestinian forces and militias, and some media have reported he in fact followed through with such orders, but without giving details. The latest instance supposedly took place early Wednesday morning, but as on all previous occasions, no mention of it was made in the Palestinian media and Fatah leaders denied receiving any such orders to hold their fire.

This appears, however, to be the first time Arafat has publicly and personally acknowledged he has issued cease-fire orders. Yet it is to Western media sources, and not for official Palestinian broadcasts. Also of note, it is cleverly limited to "Area A" only, meaning areas under full Palestinian security control, but excluding the larger zones where Israel and the Palestinians share rule.

An IDF source dismissed Arafat's remarks as not enough, noting that it does not include areas B and C. "Therefore there is no change in the Palestinian policy of terror," the source said. And in any event, Palestinians continued to shoot at Israeli targets on Friday. At the same time, the Fatah movement has continued to urge Palestinians to keep up the new intifada.

Such familiar deceptive tactics by Arafat were also on display on Wednesday, when Israeli TV news programs broadcast a videotaped eulogy by Arafat to Leah Rabin, who was buried that day in Jerusalem. In it, the Palestinian leader sits before a large poster of the Dome of the Rock shrine on the Temple Mount - a key sticking point in negotiations - and tells the Israeli people that he is fully committed to peace.

But Arafat breached a pledge to Israeli authorities by not broadcasting the message in Arabic as well on Palestinian TV. Israelis thus witnessed Arafat again speaking words of peace - but never to his own people.

Running counter to these questionable gestures, Arafat intends to press on for a UN vote next week on the insertion of a 2,000-strong international force in Judea/Samaria, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem. He also still demands more direct Russian, European and UN involvement in the peace process, plus an international commission of inquiry to investigate Israel's alleged "excessive use of force" against rioters and even charges of Israeli "war crimes."

The Palestinian observer at the UN, Nasser al-Kidwa, met Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Lancry at the Egyptian mission in New York this week to discuss the Palestinian proposal for international troops, sparking rumors Israel was ready to give ground on the issue. But Kidwa later said it had turned into a shouting match, and that his side felt it did not need Israel's okay to formally present the initiative, as early as today, to the Security Council. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Clinton Administration and other key world leaders have said they will only support this proposal if Israel approves it, and Barak has opposed it so far. The French have proposed that a smaller, unarmed force be sent instead, and Arafat has indicated that he would accept that proposal, but Barak has said this may be acceptable only as part of a final peace treaty.

Besides the Ross shuttles between Arafat and Barak, and the direct contacts at the UN,  Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov also huddled with Barak and Arafat following Leah Rabin's funeral. Ross went home without reporting progress in stemming the bloodshed, but said it had left deep psychological wounds. "If we are going to get back to making peace, we have got to change the environment. We have to affect the psychology," he said.

The American peace team is especially keen to renew talks and get some sort of deal before Clinton leaves office. Clinton told the AP this week that his biggest regret as president may be his failure to reconcile Israel and the Palestinians, because he "really wanted with all my heart" to bring peace to the Middle East. "If it doesn't happen, I'll be profoundly disappointed."

Arafat commented yesterday on such a goal, saying, "We are hoping so, not to forget that President Clinton is insisting to achieve something before his departure." Sources in Barak's government also are suggesting the end of Clinton's tenure realistically is the outside date for concluding some sort of agreement before early elections are called in Israel.

In another diplomatic development, Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami returned late last night from the two day European Union-Mediterranean conference in France, which convened the foreign ministers from 15 EU countries and about a dozen Arab and other states bordering the Mediterranean Sea. A hoped for meeting between Ben-Ami and the Moroccan foreign minister never materialized, but he did meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and with Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem. In a meeting with Ben-Ami, Cem reportedly said that, "Come what may in the peace process, the bilateral relationship between Turkey and Israel will not be affected, and will even continue to develop."

The Arab countries at the summit took the Europeans to task for what they claimed was too even-handed an approach regarding the recent violence. During the meetings, the Europeans reiterated their policy of shoring up American-inspired peace initiatives with economic and political support. By they also announced support for the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state "soon," preferably as the result of negotiations. Some Israeli Foreign Ministry officials are concerned that the EU position marks a substantial change from previous statements on the issue of a Palestinian state, and gives the impression that the Europeans may be growing impatient.

  Following is a review of some of the violent incidents in recent days.

In a day considered one of the bloodiest days of the uprising, eight Palestinians were killed and scores injured in clashes on WEDNESDAY, while four Israelis were wounded. Israeli television news agencies reported that a Hizb'Allah kidnapping attempt on an IDF soldier within Israel was thwarted. Israeli police also arrested two Israeli Arabs from the village of Arabeh in the Galilee who are suspected of leading a planned stone-throwing attacks on an IDF convoy at a nearby junction. One soldier was lightly injured and two IDF vehicles were damaged in the attack late Monday night.

Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured Gilo on Wednesday evening, where he was mobbed by residents shouting for his return to power. Netanyahu infuriated police by insisting on visiting Ha'anafa Street, then under fire, since they feared they would be unable to prevent the crowds from following him out onto the street - which proved true. However, no one was hurt.

Acting on Cabinet approval early THURSDAY morning, Israeli attack helicopters carried out widespread missile attacks on selected Palestinian targets in Judea and Samaria, following a day of heavy clashes. The helicopters fired at Palestinian armories and Fatah headquarters in Beit Jala, Hebron, Tulkarum, Jericho, Salfit and Hebron.

There was also a particularly heavy exchange of fire from Palestinian gunmen on the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo. According to one report, the Tanzim militias who opened fire at Gilo were brought to the scene in a Red Crescent ambulance. Dr. Harald Fischer, a 68-year-old German chiropractor and father of three, was accidentally killed in Beit Jalla by IDF fire in response to the gunfire from Palestinian snipers operating from the village south of Gilo. Fischer, married to a Palestinian woman, had walked just a few steps outside of his door when he was hit by a richoet on his way to treat a wounded Palestinian nearby. Firing at Gilo continued throughout that night, for a total of eight hours.

Later on Thursday, there was a marked decrease in the number of violent incidents, although shooting incidents increased after dark. Two Palestinians were killed, 10 Palestinians were wounded, and two Israeli civilians and a border policeman were lightly wounded in the violence. At an Israeli checkpoint in Beit Umar, a Palestinian man was reported killed. An IDF spokesman said he had attempted to snatch a soldier's weapon and, during the ensuing struggle, the gun went off, shooting the Palestinian. Palestinian reports denied this story, saying the soldiers fired at stone throwers who were trying to prevent them from carrying out an arrest.

Palestinians fired at a Border Police patrol in eastern Jerusalem from the rooftops of nearby buildings. The patrol returned fire and there were no injuries reported. The station is in the vicinity of the Justice Ministry and District Court compound and is near the Damascus Gate of the Old City.

In another incident near the Arab village of Arabeh in the Galilee, a police car was attacked with stones. The police responded with tear-gas and ran over one of the rioters, lightly injuring him. Police safely detonated a pipe bomb found near an entrance to the Tel Aviv bus station. A police source said it is likely the charge was set for nationalistic motives.

Funerals were held for eight Palestinians killed in clashes Wednesday. They were followed by disturbances at Khan Yunis and elsewhere in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank town of Kalkilya. There were also clashes near Jenin, Jericho, Hawara, Bani Naim, and at the Fawar refugee camp near Hebron, where one Palestinian was killed, Palestinians said.

A chain of bombs, some of which had been planted within five meters of the border on the Lebanese side, exploded as IDF soldiers passed in armored Hummer vehicles in the disputed Sheba farms region in the foothills of Mount Dov on Israel's northern border with Lebanon. One soldier was lightly injured. A statement broadcast on Hizb'Allah's Manar television station said activists had detonated several explosive devices alongside armored vehicles of "the Zionists" in a gesture of support and solidarity with the "Aksa intifada," and to demonstrate their right to the Sheba farms.

Several shooting incidents took place in the territories overnight. In Gaza, two explosive devices were detonated near IDF troops and shots were fired at Morag and Neve Dekalim. No injuries were reported. Clashes continued at the Ayosh Junction outside Ramallah, while gun battles took place next to the Jewish sectors in Hebron, Jericho, Tul Karm, and areas near Nablus. Palestinians reported that there were five people wounded.

On FRIDAY, as many as six Palestinians have died in clashes and gunfights. IDF soldiers opened fire before dawn Friday on Palestinian gunmen shooting at a Jewish settlement near Jericho. IDF and Palestinian sources said two Palestinian police officers were killed - one a lieutenant colonel and one a lieutenant. They were among a group of Palestinians on the roof of a building next to the Jericho casino who fired on IDF soldiers, and may have been responsible for the multiple shooting attacks on the Vered Jericho community in the past few weeks. IDF snipers returned fire, killing the two officers, the IDF said.

A bus was ambushed by five Palestinians near Tira, an Israeli-Arab town not far from the PA cities of Tulkarm and Kalkilyeh.  The driver was injured and taken to the hospital for treatment.

The IDF pursued a group of Palestinians attempting to penetrate the Morag settlement in the southern Gaza Strip, the army said. A force of Givati soldiers wounded three of the Palestinians, and later found in the settlement's greenhouses two bombs, which were successfully defused.

  Police were out in force on Friday in an effort to prevent any attempts at violence following the Islamic prayer services on the Temple Mount. No violent incidents were reported.

As we go to press, up to four other Palestinians have been reported killed so far in Friday's clashes, including a Jordanian Palestinian in Kalkilya, a Palestinian youth in Hebron, and a Palestinian man at the Karni crossing.

Used with Permission from International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.