JERUSALEM (IOL) - Israel said on Thursday that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was willing to resume the now-stalemated Middle East peace talks in a bid to halt two months of Israeli-Palestinian violence in the occupied territories, news agencies reported.
The new quest for peace came during a phone call from United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright after a car blast in northern Israel killing a man and
woman on Wednesday. The bombing came immediately after Israeli troops killed five Palestinians in the occupied Gaza strip.
Israeli acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami said Albright told him that Arafat called her to signal his desire to revive peace negotiations cut off since the escalation of violence.
Ben Ami said Albright called him after the meeting of Israeli's Security Cabinet to discuss the bombing.
"I don't know if it is a serious proposal but this is at least what the man (Arafat) did in a phone call he initiated to her (Albright). This is what she told me last night," Ben-Ami told Radio Israel.
"If there is anything real in this..it could be that there is a certain signaling of distress and a desire to get out of this cycle ,"he added "It is our obligation to allow the Americans to check it out."
Two Palestinian groups had claimed responsibility for the bomb attack in the Israeli town of Hadera, the Islamic Resistance group Hamas and
a previously unknown group called The Islamic Revolution for the Liberation of Palestine.
Police Chief Yehuda Wilk warned the Israelis that they must get ready for more attacks. Security forces would spread on the streets and public places in large numbers in case more attacks were launched.
"This is not a hermetic system. It is possible to penetrate. I can't say definitely that it is possible to prevent the next terrorist attacks," Wilk told radio Israel.
At least two Palestinians were killed in fresh clashes on Thursday near the Gaza-Egypt borders following two months of Israeli violence that claimed the lives of more than 250 Palestinians.
Israeli prime Minister Ehud Barak had blamed the Palestinian authority for Wednesday's blast and vowed to "get even". On the other hand, Palestinian leadership denied any link to the attack.
Albright said she would discuss with Arafat and Barak new measures to implement cease-fire agreements and to resume peace talks. Meanwhile, in Moscow, the Kremlin declared that Russian
President Vladimir Putin was to meet with Arafat on Friday.
Violence has been escalating in the occupied territories for two months after the provocative visit
by Likud's leader Ariel Sharon to the holy site of Al Aqsa Mosque bringing back the Palestinian Intifada and
triggering clashes which claimed the lives of 250 Palestinians.
