President Bill Clinton's last-gasp attempt to sketch a peace blueprint for Israel and the Palestinians appeared today to rest on the success of talks between the two sides on stemming 15 weeks of renewed bloodshed.
Leading Israeli and Palestinian security officials met late into the night at the Israel-Gaza border in a follow-up to talks Israeli cabinet minister Mr Amnon Lipkin-Shahak held a day earlier with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
"It was a good meeting. The real test will be in the field," an Israeli official said about the session. The talks came on the heels of a US announcement Mr Clinton's Middle East envoy Mr Dennis Ross had postponed indefinitely a visit to the region.
White House spokesman Mr Jake Siewert told reporters: "He has now put the trip on hold, given security meetings that are happening now at various levels in the region."
In the Gaza Strip Israel reopened a major road near the Jewish settlement on Netzarim today, part of a bid to combine its security efforts with the Palestinians' and help revive deadlocked peace talks. Reuters