Lying in his Jerusalem hospital bed yesterday, right eye bandaged and tubes coming out of his nose, Mr Yusuf Guzawi, the driver of an Israeli bus that came under fire from a Palestinian gunman on Sunday, issued a pained plea for an end to violence.
"Enough of the wars, enough of the terrorism," said Mr Guzawi, an Arab from East Jerusalem, who was hit by several bullets. "We can't live like this. The bus was full of elderly people, children. He [the gunman] didn't know if they were Jews or Arabs. He just wanted to kill."
The two teenage Israelis killed in the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic Jihad group, were laid to rest yesterday.
While hapless American and European diplomats lined up to share Mr Guzawi's public lament at the ongoing conflict, Israeli and Palestinian leaders continued to blame each other - with the Palestinians demanding an end to occupation, and the Israelis urging an end to terrorism.
In Brussels last night, the Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, and the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, were having their third inconsequential meeting in four days.
Mr Peres acknowledged that he had "no mandate" from his Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, to hold substantive negotiations. Overnight, Mr Arafat's Authority had condemned the Sunday bus attack; Mr Peres has been pleading with Mr Arafat to do more than just talk, and to arrest the leaders of Islamic Jihad and of other militant groups.
After his own meeting with Mr Arafat yesterday, the EU Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, called for a major international effort to restart negotiations. "We cannot go on with a situation of blood and fighting which is destroying entire communities," Mr Prodi said.
The Belgian Prime Minister, Mr Guy Verhofstadt, who was hosting Mr Peres and Mr Arafat for coffee and cake last night, spoke of formulating "new minimal security measures" to quell the violence.
But the Palestinians are adamant that the intifada will continue until Israel agrees to withdraw its troops - not merely from the outskirts of Palestinian cities but from the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Responding to assertions by American diplomats that the intifada has become "an ongoing campaign of terror", Mr Ahmed Qurei, the Speaker of the Palestinian parliament, said that "if the United States is really interested in peace and stability in this area, then they should work immediately to put an end to the Israeli occupation."