UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan said today he would visit the Middle East next week to push forward international efforts to persuade Israelis and Palestinians to implement the Mitchell report.
Mr Annan told reporters that he would start his tour in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, would go on to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, and "end up in Jerusalem and Gaza".
Mr Annan said his aim was to get the Israelis and Palestinians to go beyond a ceasefire and embark on a cooling-off period, start implementing confidence-building measures, and renew negotiations as recommended by the Mitchell commission.
The five-man commission, led by former US senator Mr George Mitchell, was set up in October to look into the causes of violence in the Palestinian territories which has now claimed more than 600 lives.
The report said the Palestinian leadership should "make clear through concrete action" its repudiation of terrorism, while the Israeli government should "freeze all settlement activity".
It also called on the Israelis to use non-lethal force against Palestinian demonstrators, who account for the largest number of deaths.
"As long as the ceasefire is holding, there is a chance for political movement, but the two parties can't do it alone" because so much mistrust had grown up in recent months, said Mr Annan's spokesman, Mr Fred Eckhard.
Mr Annan "feels that it will take a major push on the part of the international community to get things going in the right direction," Mr Eckhard said.
The dead include 20 young people killed by a suicide bomber as they stood in line to enter a beachside nightclub on June 1st.
The following day, at the urging of US President George W. Bush and other world leaders, Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat ordered "a total and immediate ceasefire on Israeli targets".
AFP