Israel orders army to stop attacks

Sharon calls for cease-fire

The Mitchell Committee report

From Mike Hanna
CNN Jerusalem Bureau Chief

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel ordered its army Tuesday to stop initiating attacks against Palestinians as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called for an end to nearly eight months of clashes in the region.

"This evening I called for a general cease-fire in the region," Sharon said at a news conference Tuesday. But Sharon also repeated earlier calls that "the first thing that has to happen is an end to the terror."

"I call upon our neighbors to stop the violence immediately and return to the negotiating table," Sharon said, adding that he hoped Israel's neighbors Syria and Lebanon would "opt for the path of peace."

U.S. officials expressed hope that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would respond positively to Sharon's pronouncement, but they did not expect a response before Wednesday.

RESOURCES Full text of the Mitchell Committee's report (from the Meridian International Center website) Requires Adobe® Acrobat® Reader™ Click here to download the reader.     CNN ACCESS Peres: 'Our enemies are not the Palestinians' Erakat: Mitchell report can provide a way out Mitchell: No such thing 'as conflict that can't be ended'    VIDEO In an exclusive interview with CNN, former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell talks about the report (May 21) Part 1 |  Part 2 (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

"I state here and repeat once again if the Palestinians accept the proposal for an immediate cease-fire, we shall immediately stop the fire," Sharon said. Hours later, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer ordered the Israel Defense Forces "to cease fire and to follow the regulations of opening fire which are operative in life-threatening situations only."

A Sharon aide described the order as a "first step" designed to "give all parties the best shot" toward observing a cease-fire.

Western diplomats meet Sharon, Arafat

But even after the military order was issued, Israel Radio was reporting fresh exchanges of gunfire in Gaza.

The conflict claimed another victim Tuesday, as a Palestinian police officer who had been critically injured during Israeli air strikes last Friday succumbed to his injuries. And Palestinian officials said Israeli troops had staged incursions into five Palestinian-controlled areas: Israel said it had conducted only one.

Sharon's comments came a day after the release of a report by the Mitchell Committee on violence in the Middle East. A senior U.S. official involved in the diplomatic effort said the United States' "anticipation from conversations" is that Arafat also will accept the call for an immediate cease-fire. But he emphasized that no definite commitment had been made.

Martin Indyk, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, and U.S. Consul-General Ron Schlicher met with Sharon, while U.N. envoy Terje Larsen and European Union international policy chief Javier Solana -- one of the authors of the Mitchell Committee report -- met in Gaza with Arafat.

Larsen said he saw a "convergence" forming around the Mitchell report that might lead to a cease-fire, but warned there is still a disconnect between the diplomatic initiatives and the ongoing conflict.

Settlements remain sensitive issue

The Mitchell Committee report calls for an immediate cease-fire, a cooling-off period and a framework and timetable for the Israelis and Palestinians to return to the negotiating table. It also calls for the Israelis to freeze all settlement activity, including what the Sharon government has called the "natural growth" of the settlements.

Sharon blamed the last eight months of violence -- a period marked by more than 500 deaths -- on the Palestinian Authority. Asked if he would freeze settlement activity, Sharon said that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had emphasized "there is no link between the end of violence and the question of the settlements. That issue has to be discussed later on between the parties."

That was not the answer Palestinian leaders wanted to hear.

"The Palestinian leadership expresses its regret for Mr. Sharon's rejection of the recommendations included in the Mitchell findings," the Palestinian Authority said in a written statement.

Shortly afterward, Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, blamed Sharon for the violence, saying "he started it all" by making a provocative trip to the Temple Mount -- a sacred spot in east Jerusalem known as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims -- last September.