Palestinian President Mr Yasser Arafat delivered a goodwill message tonight to Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon for the Jewish Passover holiday after a week of violence in the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel Radio said Mr Arafat spoke by telephone with Mr Sharon to wish the Jewish people a happy holiday and also invited leftist Mertez party leader Mr Yossi Sarid to meet him in the next few days.
A Palestinian official said Mr Arafat also spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres and expressed hope that stalled peace talks would resume.
Mr Sharon's office said his response to Mr Arafat's gesture on the eve of Passover, which commemorates the Israelites' biblical exodus from Egypt, was guarded and Sharon took the opportunity to reiterate his demand that violence stop before peace talks restart.
The conversation came on a day of sporadic exchanges of gunfire in the West Bank and Gaza. The Israeli army reported shooting near Ramallah and the Jewish settlements of Psagot and Ariel in the West Bank.
Troops earlier fired rubber-coated metal bullets to disperse around 200 stone and bottle-throwing Palestinians in the West Bank town of Hebron who blocked the road to nearby Bethlehem.