Israel considers 'time out' in wake of violence

A wounded Palestinian is evacuated after clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in Ramallah on Friday     WEB EXCLUSIVE On the scene with Fionnuala Sweeney in Gaza

Ten Palestinians killed as Mideast cooling-off period passes

In this story: Clinton continues peacemaking United Nations inquiry Sharon considers joining Barak Arab summit preparations RELATED STORIES, SITES

CNN Jerusalem Bureau Chief Mike Hanna and CNN Correspondent Ben Wedeman contributed to this report.

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Israel was considering a "time out" after this weekend's Arab summit to reassess its position in the wake of a failed ceasefire and renewed clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers that left at least eight Palestinians dead on Friday.

"We will take time out to re-evaluate the situation of the peace process," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview taped for Israeli TV. He said Israel would take "as much time as is needed to evaluate the situation."

VIDEO CNN's Jerrold Kessel explains why violence has not yet completely ended in the Mideast (October 19) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney tells the story of one young Palestinian stone thrower (October 19) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Mike Hanna reports on the clash (October 19) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Ben Wedeman looks at how the diplomacy is affecting tensions in the streets (October 18) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     TRANSCRIPTS U.S.: President Clinton Egypt: President Mubarak     GALLERY Turmoil surrounds first day of Middle East summit (Oct. 16)     MESSAGE BOARD Mideast peace     RESOURCES Mideast struggle for peace Roots of the conflict: Sacred sites, deadly disputes Roots of Mideast conflict shrouded in ancient history     ALSO Eight Palestinians held in mob killing of Israeli soldiers Jews face violent upsurge Amnesty names and shames torturers Ray of sunshine from Mideast: Egyptians, Jews save burial site Threat of attacks prompts U.S. to issue travel warnings

Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erakat described the Israeli announcement as "inappropriate" and added that "the worst is yet to come."

Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner said that Israel had done all it could to ensure an end to the fighting.

"We said we would give 48 hours for the ceasefire to be implemented on the ground," said Pazner. "What we have seen is more violent incidents than before ... and the Palestinian Authority has done very little, if at all, to stop the fighting."

"It is impossible to continue a peace process as if nothing happened in the last two or three weeks," he said.

The Israelis and Palestinians had agreed to a ceasefire during an international summit in Egypt at the beginning of this week, but those on the ground have shown little interest in ending the conflict that has raged for three weeks.

The violence came as leaders for both sides expressed hope and frustration toward stopping the confrontations.

The elapsing of the cooling-off period on Friday -- agreed upon by both sides at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit and announced Tuesday -- came as Israeli police in Jerusalem were turning away Muslim men under age 40 from the al-Aqsa Mosque as they arrived for weekly prayers.

Scuffles broke out as worshippers were blocked from the site -- holy to both Muslims and Jews -- where riots broke out September 28, eventually leading to the deaths of more than 100 people, most of them Palestinians.

All eight Palestinians who died were killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

Earlier, Israeli officials said they hoped the cooling off period that ended Friday would restore calm to the volatile region.

"I certainly hope ... we will have here more calm and tranquility because it is our intention, it is our objective, to create the necessary conditions for the renewal, for the proper atmosphere, for talks with the Palestinians," Israel's Acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami told CNN.

"We expect obviously (Palestinian Authority President Yasser) Arafat and his political entourage to convey to the Palestinian security system the appropriate instructions," Ben-Ami said. "The problem here is we are not very sure that the Palestinian system is an orderly system that operates under clear-cut instructions."

Palestinian officials told CNN a complete ending of violence was up to the people.

"From our side I believe the (Palestinian) Authority gave all the orders to stop any kind of clashes," Palestinian Cabinet Minister Faisal Husseini told CNN. "But we can implement it if we are talking about the Palestinian official police, but if we are talking about the people, you can't just control the people immediately. They must see that there is change on the ground, then they will start changing also their attitude.

"But the most important thing is the withdrawal of the (Israeli) army from the sensitive areas didn't happen, the continuation of isolating East Jerusalem from other parts of the West Bank is still there," Husseini said,

The cease-fire agreement made at the emergency summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, attended by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Arafat, called for the Israeli military's withdrawal from certain Palestinian-controlled areas and the end of Israel's closing of the borders surrounding the West Bank and Gaza.

Clinton continues peacemaking

U.S. President Bill Clinton made phone calls late Thursday to Arafat and Barak, urging them to abide by the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement.

Earlier Thursday, two more people were killed in fighting between Israeli defense forces and Palestinians in the West Bank town of Nablus.

Both sides claim the other started the gunfight, which echoed from the hills above the city.

One Palestinian and one Israeli were killed, and at least 15 other people were injured, officials said.

Later, Israeli helicopter gunships evacuated wounded Jewish settlers from a hillside, firing machine guns as they swooped down and then away.

United Nations inquiry

Meanwhile, Israel on Friday refused to cooperate with a United Nations inquiry into alleged human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement rejecting a resolution passed Thursday by the U.N. Human Rights commission, which set up the inquiry and blamed Israel for "widespread, systematic and gross violation of human rights" during the three weeks of violence.

The resolution, which described some of Israel's actions as "war crimes," passed despite the United States and European nations voting against it.

Sharon considers joining Barak

Also, Ariel Sharon, Israel's opposition Likud Party leader, said on Friday he was still considering joining Barak's proposed unity government, but only if it took a tough stance on peacemaking with the Palestinians.

Sharon said he was due to meet Barak to discuss terms for setting up such a coalition, but he did not say when they would meet.

"The situation is dangerous. Unity strengthens us internally and externally but I will not join a government without a joint agreement which means finding a new way of handling the peace process," Sharon said.

The current violence followed a visit September 28 by Sharon to a section of the Old City in Jerusalem that holds sites sacred to both Jews and Muslims -- control of which lies at the heart of peace talks. Palestinians viewed the visit by the hawkish leader as a provocation while Sharon defended it as his right.

Arab summit preparations

Friday's developments in Israel and the West Bank came as Arab foreign ministers gathered in Cairo, Egypt, to prepare for this weekend's summit of Arab leaders.

Iraq urged summit leaders to adopt a clear-cut stance toward the Palestine cause, saying the target is the liberation of Palestine, Iraqi newspapers said on Friday.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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