SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Feb. 8 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas promised Tuesday to halt attacks on each other's people, expressing optimism that renewed relations offered a chance to end a devastating four-year cycle of suicide bombings and military assaults.
At the conclusion of a carefully scripted summit in this Red Sea resort, Sharon announced: "We agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere. . . . Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians anywhere."
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon shake hands for the cameras before a meeting in Egypt.
(Lefteris Pitarakis -- AP)
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_____Summit Highlights_____
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Sharon, Abbas Declarations: More on armed conflict, transfer of towns, prisoners, future cooperation and unresolved issues.
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"We are looking forward to replacing the language of bullets and bombs with the language of good dialogue," Abbas said, "and to provide Palestinian and Israeli children with new opportunities for peace."
Abbas said the two leaders' parallel announcements signaled "the start of a new era" and provided "a new opportunity to resume the peace process." But he cautioned: "What we agreed on today is only the beginning to bridge the gap and differences between us."
The pledges did not have the force of a formal cease-fire, but were described by Israeli and Palestinian officials as an agreement to begin forging a lasting solution to a conflict that has killed just over 1,000 Israelis and more than 3,000 Palestinians since September 2000.
In addition, Egypt and Jordan -- whose leaders also attended the summit -- announced that they would return their ambassadors to Israel for the first time since withdrawing them in late 2000 over what they considered Israel's use of excessive force against Palestinians in the early weeks of the uprising.
In Paris, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the progress made by Sharon and Abbas. "Success is not assured, but America is resolute," said Rice, who met with both men this week. "This is the best chance for peace we are likely to see for some years to come -- and we are acting to help Israelis and Palestinians seize this chance."
Many of the thorniest issues dividing Israel and the Palestinians remain unresolved. Some were assigned on Tuesday to committees; others will not be addressed for months. "We couldn't resolve all the issues today," Abbas said.
Officials from each side said the success of Tuesday's agreements depends on the other side meeting its obligations. For Abbas, that means persuading guerrillas to stop attacks on Israelis and ensuring that Palestinian security agencies work to help prevent such attacks. For Sharon, it means an end to assassinations of militants, military incursions into Palestinian cities and destruction of Palestinians' homes.
But while Abbas committed the Palestinian Authority to refrain from violence, the two most powerful radical Islamic groups -- the Islamic Resistance Movement, known as Hamas, and Islamic Jihad -- have not endorsed his efforts, though both have scaled back attacks since Abbas was elected a month ago to replace the late Yasser Arafat.
Representatives of Hamas issued conflicting assessments of the summit, reflecting both continued debate within the group's ranks and the challenges still facing Abbas.
"We cannot accept it," Mushir Masri, one Hamas spokesman, said in a telephone interview. But Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas political leader in the Gaza Strip, told television reporters that if the Israelis "continue the quiet, then we are going to continue, because we are committed to Abu Mazen," as Abbas is known informally.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said after the summit that he was preparing to fly to the Syrian capital, Damascus, to try to persuade senior Hamas officials to honor Abbas's commitment to the Israelis.
Although Abbas has preferred to negotiate with militant groups rather than arrest or attack their members, Shaath said, "from now on, any violation of the truce will be a violation of the national commitment and will have to be dealt with as such."
