European Union foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana met Israeli and Palestinian leaders today in a new bid to end 15 months of violence after a US envoy left the region without a breakthrough.
A row raged on between Israel and the Palestinians over the Israeli military's seizure of a ship which it said had been carrying Iranian-supplied arms to the Palestinian Authority, an allegation the Palestinians and Iran denied.
Mr Solana conferred with US envoy Mr Anthony Zinni shortly before the retired Marine Corps general ended a four-day visit, during which he brokered security talks between the two sides.
The EU envoy later met Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon and was due to hold talks with Palestinian President Mr Yasser Arafat this evening.
"The objective that we have is the resumption of the political discussion, the political talks", Mr Solana told reporters. "There is a lot of work to be done and I hope that everyone will assume his responsibility to (do) it".
A spokeswoman for Mr Solana said European and US leaders were coordinating their efforts closely and that Mr Solana was encouraged by the lull in violence over the past three weeks.
But peace efforts were dealt a blow by the Israeli-Palestinian sparring over Israel's interception on Thursday in the Red Sea of a ship it said was carrying 50 tonnes of munitions, including long-range Katyusha rockets and explosives.
The Palestinian Authority, denying involvement, said Israel was magnifying the incident to avoid honouring a ceasefire.
Israel said the ship had been under Palestinian command and bound for Gaza with Mr Arafat's complicity. With the ship as a backdrop, Mr Sharon told a news conference yesterday that Mr Arafat was an enemy of Israel.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Mr Saeb Erekat said after talks with Mr Solana that the Palestinian Authority would accept an international inquiry into the ship incident involving the United States, Russia and Arab states.