Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ushered in a new era of hope for Middle East peace at a landmark summit on Tuesday by calling a cease-fire to end four years of bloodshed. Meeting in an Egyptian resort following a new US peace push in the region, both leaders said it was time to end the cycle of violence, which has claimed some 4,700 lives.
"We have agreed with the prime minister to cease all acts of violence against Israelis and against Palestinians wherever they are," Abbas declared at the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on the palm-fringed shores of the Red Sea.
The calm that is currently prevailing in our territories signals the start of a new era, the start of a hopeful peace," he added.
Sharon, in Egypt for the first time as prime minister, said he was ordering a complete cessation to military activities against Palestinians.
"We have an opportunity to turn our back on the bloody path imposed on us over the last four years," he said. But he cautioned that it was a "fragile opportunity" for peace, saying there were still "extremists" waiting to derail the process.
The Hamas movement, responsible for the majority of attacks during the Intifada, dampened some of the optimism by declaring that it was not bound by the cease-fire announcement.
Abbas's declaration "expresses only the position of the Palestinian Authority. It does not express the position of the Palestinian movements," said Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri.
The meeting between the two leaders was the first top-level summit in more than four years, putting the seal on a growing rapprochement, which began with the death of Sharon's old enemy Yasser Arafat on November 11.
New US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in Paris shortly after a trip to the Middle East hailed the meeting.
"Success is not assured, but America is resolute: This is the best chance for peace we are likely to see for years to come - and we are acting to help Israeli and Palestinians seize this chance," she said.
Sharon's spokesman Raanan Gissin revealed the premier had even invited Abbas to his farm in the Negev desert although there was no confirmation the invitation had been accepted.
The two men were pictured shaking hands amid a generally jovial atmosphere at a summit hosted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and also attended by Jordan's King Abdullah II.
The history of the Middle East peace process is however littered with high-profile summits, which have promised much but failed to deliver an end to the bloodshed.
And despite the optimism generated by their meeting, Sharon and Abbas steered clear of some of the most contentious issues, such as the final borders of any future Palestinian state and the status of Palestinian refugees.
But another sign that a new era in the Middle East is emerging came as Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit announced that Jordan and Egypt would be returning their ambassadors to the Jewish state in a couple of weeks.
Egypt withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv shortly after the outbreak of the uprising in September 2000 while Jordan did not replace a departing ambassador in protest at Israel's use of "excessive force" against Palestinians.
Sharon also confirmed that Israel would soon release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Negotiators have already reached a tentative agreement for the release of some 900 detainees.
Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei's bureau chief, Hassan Abu Libdeh, also said negotiators had agreed that the transfer of security from Israel to the Palestinian Authority in five West Bank towns, including Ramallah, would take place in within three weeks.
Mubarak said the summit had put the "wheel of peace" back on the right track.
Hailing what he said was a "positive spirit" between Israel and the Palestinians, he said he hoped the summit would lead to implementation of the roadmap peace plan, which targets the creation of a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.
"The task is very great, but our hopes are greater."
The last serious attempt to revive the process came in June 2003 with the launch of the roadmap, attended by US President George W. Bush. But with its hands burnt by the continuing bloodshed, Washington scaled back its involvement until the death of Arafat.
However Rice's visit to the region indicated a new commitment, highlighted by her revelation that Sharon and Abbas had accepted invitations to the White House and the appointment of a US security pointman for the Middle East.
The international community gave a warm welcome to the signs of a revival in the peace process.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder welcomed the cease-fire announcement as a sign of "modest, but nevertheless important progress."
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, on a visit to the Gaza Strip said that "today in Sharm el-Sheikh, dialogue is resuming again... and there cannot be peace if there is no dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians."