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Report blames both sides for Mideast conflictMitchell expresses hope resolution can be reached
(CNN) -- The animosity, destruction and death in recent days are at their most intense levels since fighting between Israelis and Palestinians erupted nearly eight months ago. But George Mitchell, the leader of a five-man independent and international committee examining the crisis, says a peaceful resolution can be reached. "Conflicts are created and sustained by human beings, and can be ended by human beings," Mitchell said Monday, when his team formally released its widely leaked findings. The Mitchell Committee faulted both Israel and the Palestinian Authority for the recent violence. The report calls for an immediate "cooling off period," followed by several acts aimed at "ending violence, restoring confidence and resuming meaningful negotiations," according to Mitchell.
The five-man committee was appointed after a summit last October at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. While exact numbers differ depending on the source, more than 500 people have been killed -- most of them Palestinians -- since fighting between the two parties began last September. The series of heated, escalating skirmishes is firmly rooted in religious, political, economic and increasingly personal disagreements. 
"Death and destruction will not solve the problems in the Middle East," said Mitchell. "They will only make things worse." Both sides faulted, asked to actFollowing a ceasefire, the Mitchell report prompts both sides to take action. The report says the Palestinian Authority should make "a 100 percent effort to prevent terrorism," arrest terrorists and prevent those living in Palestinian areas from firing on Israeli soldiers and civilians. Israel, the committee added, should develop "non-lethal" responses to unarmed demonstrators, re-open Palestinian territories and "refrain from the destruction of homes and roads" and agricultural resources in Palestinian areas. The report's most controversial recommendation calls for Israel to freeze all settlement activity in Palestinian-controlled territories, including the "natural growth" of existing settlements. Mitchell said his committee has no enforcement power, leaving it up to the Palestinian Authority and Israel to adopt and follow through on the report's recommendations. 'A road map' toward peaceIn their response, included in the report, Palestinians said they "accept these findings" as "a road map" toward peace. But Palestinians said the report's failure to set forth how the commitments must be implemented was a key deficiency. The Israeli government, in its response, said it welcomed the call for an end to violence. But it singled out its opposition to the provision restricting the expansion of Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking after the report's release, said he is dispatching American diplomats to determine whether the Israelis and Palestinians can work out "a timeline and a sequence" to restart negotiations. "It's now time for both sides, with the help of the international community and the United States, to move forward on the basis of this report," Powell said. Powell had previously told Congress the Mitchell report and an Egyptian-Jordanian peace proposal are "tools" that can be used to help the two sides return to the negotiating table. "We want to seize this opportunity to test the parties in the Middle East to see if they are ready to take meaningful actions," a senior Bush administration official told CNN. "It's still up to the parties."
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