Palestinians in standoff with Israelis at checkpoint near Ramallah

Vadim Norjitz, right, pictured with his wife, was killed Thursday by a Palestinian mob in Ramallah

Egypt invites principals to summit at Red Sea resort

In this story: Security tight Summit a possibility RELATED STORIES, SITES

RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Machine gun fire erupted in Ramallah on Friday, sending hundreds of panicked Palestinians, who had marched to the town's Israeli checkpoint after the Muslim noon prayers, scattering in all directions.

CNN Producer Sausan Ghosheh, on the scene, said it was unclear where the brief burst of machine gun fire originated. She said she could not confirm any injuries.

Hundreds of bitterly angry Palestinians came to the checkpoint outside the town where rock-throwing Palestinians and Israeli security forces have clashed repeatedly over two weeks of violence.

TRANSCRIPT Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak talks with CNN's Senior International correspondent Christiane Amanpour    VIDEO Palestinian Cabinet Minister Faisal Husseini speaks with CNN's Mike Hanna about the violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories (October 12) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak speaks with CNN's Christiane Amanpour about the violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories (October 12 - Part 1) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Barak interview (October 12 - Part 2) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Joie Chen looks back on the events of the past two weeks (October 12) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) An Israeli soldier is thrown out of the window of the Palestinian police station and beaten (October 12) (Note: Video contains images that may be disturbing) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   more videos     GALLERY Scenes of struggle in the Middle East (October 13)     AUDIO Barak defends Israel's attack on Palestinian targets on Thursday 1MB/50 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Barak accuses Arafat of releasing terrorists from prison 760K/35 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Barak says there is still hope for peace 736K/34 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Ghosheh reported that about 10 to 20 Palestinians challenged the Israelis with stones, and the soldiers, already in position behind barriers when the Palestinians arrived, responded with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. At least four Palestinians were injured.

Most of the Palestinians, Ghosheh said, stood aside and watched.

Nearly 100 people -- all but a few of them Palestinians and Israeli Arabs -- have died in the violence that erupted after a September 28 visit by hard-line Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to a disputed religious site in Jerusalem. The hawkish Sharon is reviled by Palestinians.

On Thursday, Ramallah was an emotional flashpoint, beginning with the slayings of three Israeli soldiers by a Palestinian mob at a Palestinian police station.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak responded to the killings by ordering rocket attacks on Ramallah and Gaza City as live television broadcasts brought the apparent unraveling of the already fragile peace process to the world.

On a new day, the region's atmosphere appeared no less tense, with a "day of rage" Palestinians drawing Israeli security forces to heightened alert.

While the Palestinians marched toward the Ramallah checkpoint, Israeli police scuffled with Palestinians leaving noon prayers in east Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque at the disputed site known as Haram as-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) to Arabs and the Temple Mount to Jews.

Police used batons to disperse the crowd, avoiding the tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets that have been the hallmarks of the Israeli response to the hail of Palestinian stones and occasional fire bombs.

Security tight

But the numbers of Muslims worshipping at the holy site were significantly lower on Friday than they had been in the past, as a clampdown on travel for Palestinians kept many worshippers in their own communities.

Mahdi Abdul Hadi, founder of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, stood on the Mount of Olives near the Old City and told CNN's Jerrold Kessel that Palestinians were angry and frustrated at Barak's actions.

"Is this the Jerusalem he would like to see -- isolated, deserted?" he said. "You can see Israeli soldiers preventing people from reaching their holy sites on Friday, the most holy day."

The east Jerusalem site is held sacred by both Jews and Muslims, and lies at the heart of the issues that have kept the two sides from concluding a peace accord. Hadi said that this summer's Camp David talks -- which failed to bring the two sides to agreement -- had brought the issue to the forefront to the detriment of the region.

"It's too early to talk about sharing holy sites," Hadi said. "We can talk about sharing electricity, water ... but we cannot share our faith, our holy sites. It's awakened all sleeping horses, all over the region."

Summit a possibility

International leaders intent on ending two weeks of bitter violence in the region -- and setting Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations back on track -- intensified their efforts to bring the principals together.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, in Biarritz, France, for a meeting with European Union leaders, said on Friday that there was a "fair chance" of a summit on Saturday in Egypt.

"There is a fair chance that tomorrow there will be a conference in (the Red Sea resort) Sharm el-Sheikh headed by Mr. Clinton, with the participation of Mubarak, (King) Abdullah of Jordan, Barak and (Palestinian leader Yasser) Arafat," Peres told CNN's Patricia Kelly.

Sources close to both Barak and Arafat said the two leaders were considering the proposal, but no decisions had been made.

Barak, along with the summit option, was considering a new coalition government, and had offered Likud Party chairman Sharon, whose visit to the holy site in Jerusalem preceded the violence, a position in such a government. Many Palestinians have said it will spell the end of the peace process if he is allowed to participate in the government.

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