Palestinians, Israelis exchange gunfire at Ramallah

An Israeli border police officer argues with a Palestinian at the entrance to the Al Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City in east Jerusalem

Egypt invites principals to summit at Red Sea resort

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

RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Gunfire ended a brief calm in Ramallah on Friday afternoon as Palestinians and Israeli security forces targeted each other at the start of a third week of violence that threatens to destroy the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

A day after the slayings of at least two Israeli soldiers at the hands of a Palestinian mob and Israel's subsequent airstrike retaliation, television cameras continued to broadcast live the apparent unraveling of the already fragile peace process.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour reported from a hill outside Ramallah, describing an Israeli tank firing on a small brick building on a nearby hill with heavy machine guns. Return fire came from that area, Amanpour said.

TRANSCRIPT Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak talks with CNN's Senior International correspondent Christiane Amanpour    VIDEO After midday prayers in Cairo, Egypt, protesters against Israel marched in the street (October 13) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Palestinian refugees in a Lebanese camp protest against Israel (October 13) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Israelis talk with CNN's Christiane Amanpour about how most still support the peace process (October 13) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) 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)     GALLERY Scenes of struggle in the Middle East (October 12)     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

At the Israeli checkpoint in Ramallah, scene of some of the most bitter clashes of the last two weeks, hundreds of Palestinians had marched to the site after Muslim noon prayers.

Some of the demonstrators set fire to tires and launched stones at barricaded Israeli soldiers. The soldiers responded with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. At least four Palestinians were injured.

Later, CNN Producer Sausan Ghosheh reported, both sides apparently used live ammunition.

In Gaza, angry demonstrators set fire to hotels and bars as Palestinian security forces were unable to control the crowds. Leaders of the Palestinian Hamas movement also tried in vain to calm the situation.

Police were able to keep the demonstrators away from nearby Jewish settlements.

Israeli police scuffled with Palestinians leaving noon prayers in east Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque at the disputed Old City 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

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 the disputed holy site in Jerusalem's Old City. The hawkish Sharon is reviled by Palestinians.

Israeli security tightened on Friday -- after the deaths Thursday of the two soldiers and the Israeli retaliation -- fearing further violence following the Muslim noon prayers. There were unconfirmed reports that a third soldier had been killed on Thursday.

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 Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak 's response to the violence.

"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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Bus shooting caps turbulent day in Middle East
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Israel closes Palestinian borders anticipating more violence
October 6, 2000
Gaza fighting subsides despite failure at talks
October 5, 2000

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