At least seven Palestinians were killed and several were wounded by Israeli return fire. It was the deadliest day of fighting in two weeks, despite a call by the region's leader for a cease-fire. Palestinian gunmen also shot at Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Ramallah, just after Israel's deadline for truce of 4 p.m. on Friday. At least four Palestinians were killed in the return fire. The Israeli government later set 4 p.m. on Friday as the deadline.
Israeli officials say there was no exact deadline, however.
President Bill Clinton called both Arafat and Barak on Thursday to ask them to follow the guidelines set up at the emergency meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on October 16 and 17. Both sides blame the other for the continued violence. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat agreed at an emergency summit in Egypt to end the present violence and work toward a permanent peace agreement. During the two-day meeting, both sides agreed to consult with the United States over the next two weeks about how to move forward with the peace negotiations, said President Clinton. As part of the agreement, a UN fact-finding committee will be formed by the U.S., in cooperation with both the Israelis and the Palestinians, to investigate the recent wave of unrest in the Middle East.