The truce, in its fifth day Monday, has dampened the overall level of unrest but has not extinguished it. About 30 Palestinians were wounded in Monday's sporadic clashes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, doctors said.
As Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat prepared to head to Washington for separate meetings with President Clinton, they remained sharply at odds on how to stop the violence and revive suspended peace talks.
"We see a certain effort by Chairman Arafat to calm down the situation, but clearly the results show that there is no real reduction in the violence," Barak said. He said the cease-fire is "not being implemented by the other side...and we are being forced to act accordingly."
In the evening, Barak's government easily survived four no-confidence motions in parliament, said parliament spokesman Giora Pordes. Some were brought by Arab legislators angry over the deaths of about a dozen Israeli Arabs in recent riots linked to the Palestinian revolt.
The Palestinians, meanwhile, complained Monday that U.S. mediation in Mideast peacemaking has been ineffective and demanded that the United Nations, the European Union, Russia, and China be included in future talks. The Palestinians also raised the possibility of an international peacekeeping force.
"Since the United States has failed to persuade Israel to implement the agreements, there is a need for other parties to be involved in this process," Arafat aide Nabil Aburdeneh said.
Israel has adamantly rejected any international peacekeeping force. It wants its leading ally, the United States, to keep its role as the main mediator.
In another development, a senior Palestinian official said the Palestinians have no intention of unilaterally declaring statehood at a Nov. 15 meeting of their Central Council.
Nov. 15 marks the 12th anniversary of a symbolic statehood declaration, and there has been speculation that the Palestinians would act on the anniversary, declaring a state for themselves in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. But Israel also claims some of that land, and a Palestinian move to declare statehood there would be sure to bring a harsh response from Israel, including the annexation of parts of the West Bank.
"It's not our intention to declare a state in the coming Central Council session. There were no plans to do so," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said.
In Monday's unrest, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by a bullet to the chest in the West Bank town of Tulkarem, and a 17-year-old died when he was hit in the back in the Gaza Strip. Also, bullet wounds cost another 15-year-old boy sight in both eyes, according to doctors at the Shifa hospital in Gaza.
Later Monday, firefights were reported in several areas in Gaza and the West Bank.
Since the truce was agreed to last week, 13 people have died in five days--a decline from earlier levels, but hardly the calm that had been hoped for. Overall, the violence has claimed more than 170 lives, the vast majority Palestinians.
Arafat plans to meet Clinton in Washington on Thursday, and Barak is to hold talks with the president Sunday. With peace negotiations for a political settlement on hold, the leaders appear focused on the more immediate goal of ending the bloodletting.
In a statement issued after its meeting Monday, the Palestinian Cabinet said the Arafat-Clinton meeting will be devoted to "finding a way out of the dangerous situation that the peace process has reached after the Israeli government's rejection" of peace initiatives and cease-fire deals.
"The Palestinian leadership states that the demand of the Palestinian people is to end the Israeli occupation and attacks," it said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said Arafat has raised the possibility of holding a three-way meeting with Clinton and Barak in Washington. Ben-Ami said Israel would consider a summit only after the violence has stopped.
Israel allowed the Palestinian airport in Gaza to reopen Monday for one flight, a plane that brought Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad al-Thani for a meeting with Arafat. Israel had closed the airport shortly after the riots began, citing security concerns.
"This is now an important and dangerous time, not only for Palestine, but also for the whole Islamic world," Arafat told his al-Thani.
In its statement, Arafat's Cabinet called on Arab nations to help provide employment to Palestinian workers, lift taxes off Palestinian products, and develop an industrial zone within the Palestinian territories. It also urged foreign nations to help it rebuild houses damaged in the violence.
