THE Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, left the door open yesterday for a crisis summit after six days of clashes in the West Bank.
In the towns of Bethlehem and Hebron, Israeli troops wounded dozens of Palestinians protesting at Mr Netanyahu's preparatory work on a Jewish settlement in Arab East Jerusalem a week ago. The soldiers fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse stone throwers.
In Bethlehem witnesses said Israeli soldiers shot and wounded more than 25 Palestinians with rubber-coated metal bullets during clashes near the tomb of the biblical matriarch Rachel.
The Voice of Palestine radio station said more than 90 other Palestinians were taken to hospital for treatment from teargas inhalation.
Mr Arafat, on a visit to the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, said he was prepared to meet Mr Netanyahu so long as the purpose of their meeting was to discuss peace and not a publicity stunt.
US officials said a peace mission by Washington's Middle East negotiator, Mr Dennis Ross, was under consideration but far from set.
Mr Netanyahu's spokesman, Mr David Bar-Illan, said the prime minister would accept a summit with Mr Arafat so long as the issue of security topped the agenda.
"We are obviously not rejecting any idea for a meeting but we expect that if such a meeting takes place, it will focus on the issues of security and terrorism," he said.
Palestinians object to any preconditions and say the sides must talk about other issues besides security.
In Egypt, around 1,000 students stormed out of Cairo University and marched outside campus to protest at Israeli policies before riot police shepherded them back inside.
Palestinians deny charges by Mr Netanyahu that Mr Arafat has given Islamic militants a tacit "green light" to carry out attacks, including the Palestinian suicide bombing that killed three women at a Tel Aviv cafe last week.
In Jerusalem, Israel's army chief, Gen Amnon Shahak, said yesterday: "The ground is obviously fertile for more attacks...We are in a very tense situation."
Ending a visit to Sri Lanka, Mr Arafat said his Palestinian Authority had acted against those who opposed the law, including the main Islamic militant group, Hamas. He accused Israel of fomenting confrontation between Palestinian groups.
"The Israeli government is looking to having instability and confrontation between the Palestinians, a civil war, which we cannot accept," Mr Arafat said when asked about Israel's demand that he clamp down on militant groups.
Mr Arafat's Fatah movement, angry at the building of 6,500 homes for Jews in East Jerusalem, called on Palestinians to confront Jewish settlement activity with non-violent protests and by blocking roads used by Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
"Our objective is to raise our voice to the world against settlement activity. But we arc not calling for violence," a Fatah spokesman, Mr Mahmoud Jasser, said.
Police released three Israeli Arabs after determining they were not involved in Friday's suicide bombing, Israel Radio said.