Fighting calms in Gaza, West Bank; Clinton urges talks

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli and Palestinian troop commanders met at U.S. insistence yesterday to try to pave the way for a truce, and relative calm prevailed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip: No one was killed in clashes for the first time in a week despite sporadic exchanges of gunfire.

Israel said that if there were no new outbreaks of violence, it could withdraw troops from friction points and then look into ways of resuming peace talks. However, army officials were skeptical a cease-fire would hold for long.

President Clinton has raised the possibility of holding separate meetings in Washington with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to assess prospects for returning to negotiations.

The Israeli troop commanders of the West Bank and Gaza Strip held the meetings with their Palestinian counterparts yesterday in the presence of U.S. security officials. The goal was try to implement the cease-fire brokered last week by Clinton. Both sides have accused each other of breaking promises made to the president.

Israel has said the Palestinian Authority has done little to quell shooting attacks on Israeli positions. The Palestinians have complained that Israel has not lifted its security closure of the Palestinian areas and withdrawn troops from trouble spots.

In all, 128 people, the vast majority Palestinians, have been killed in four weeks of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. But yesterday saw only sporadic rock-throwing clashes.