WASHINGTON, March 5 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak vowed Tuesday to continue efforts to bring a viable peace agreement to the Middle East as seemingly unrelenting violence between Israelis and Palestinians escalated since the weekend.
"We also meet at a moment when the people of both our countries are gravely concerned about escalating violence in the Middle East. Each day brings fresh reports of more lives lost and more Palestinian and Israeli families shattered by those losses," Bush said after his Oval Office meeting with Mubarak.
"Both our countries view this situation with great alarm. We both feel deep sympathy for the people in the region who are trying to live their lives in peace. And we're both determined to redouble our efforts to work for peace."
The two leaders met in Washington for the second time as violence in between the Israelis and Palestinians escalated. On Monday a gunman sprayed a Tel Aviv restaurant with automatic rifle fire, killing three Israelis and wounding 25 people. The gunman was killed.
A day earlier an Israeli fighter jet attacked Palestinian Authority security offices and raids were launched against Palestinian refugee camps in an attempt to assassinate a Hamas leader in Ramallah. Instead, they killed his wife and three of his children.
Bush told Mubarak that the United States remains committed to two states -- Israel and Palestine -- living peacefully within secure and recognized borders, as called for under the United Nations Security Council resolutions. But he said stressed that it was a goals that was only possible if there was "maximum effort" to end violence throughout the region, starting with Palestinians halting attacks against Israelis.
And Bush said the United States remained wedded to implementing the security plan developed by Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet and the agreement crafted by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell last year. Under the so-called Mitchell process, the two sides would be subject to a six-week cooling-off period before engaging in peace talks. He said the U.S. also stood ready to return U.S. envory General Anthony Zinni to the region. Zinni spent four days in January holding talks with Palestinian and Israeli officials in an effort to reach a cease-fire agreement.
Vice President Dick Cheney, in his first trip abroad, is set leave Washington on Sunday for a 10-day journey to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
"Egypt was the first Arab state to stretch out its hand for peace in the Middle East, and it has worked hard to preserve its peace with Israel, even during difficult times," Bush said. Mubarak has offered once again to host peace talks between the two factions. Mubarak mediated peace talks at Sharm El Shaikh in 1999.
Mubarak said that as the Palestinians were being asked to exert pressure to tamp down violence, the Israeli government should also take action to bring about peace.
"The Israeli government should understand that the use of military power and unilateral measures against the Palestinian population, the closure of roads, the siege of towns and villages, the demolition of houses, the collective punishment that make progress more difficult, should stop," Mubarak said.
"Peace will only be achieved through ending the Israeli occupation of all territory occupied since June 1967, implementing the relevant U.N. resolutions, establishing of a viable Palestinian state, and guaranteeing the security of all parts in peaceful coexistence."
During a speech earlier in the day Mubarak repeated his offer to arrange a meeting between Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and hold the talks in Egypt.
He called the situation "very complicated" with unprecedented violence and retaliation occurring every day.
"There are losses of life from both side, Israelis and Palestinians, every single day -- which is terrible," Mubarak said. "The same thing on the Palestinian side. We should be fair in that. Palestinians and their villages are under siege."
But Mubarak may have a tough battle ahead of him. Sharon told reporters on Monday that he wanted the Palestinians to realize that "it is impossible to achieve their goals through terror." Sharon spoke at a closed session of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and then to reporters at the Knesset's dining room while aircraft, tanks and ground troops struck Palestinian areas and as Israelis were burying 22 people killed in Palestinian attacks in the preceding 36 hours. Sharon told the Knesset that they were in a "tough war against a cruel and bloodthirsty enemy."
Mubarak's offer is coupled with a similar gesture from Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. He offered full political and economic relations with Israel if they pull out of Arab lands captured in 1967. He said he would try to convince Arab leaders to adopt his plan during the Arab League summit in Beirut later this month. Some officials in Israel have been anxious to discuss the deal, but the offer was coolly received by U.S. officials.
"I think the crown prince suggestion was a very positive development. And I appreciate those in Israel who are trying to find out exactly what it means. There has got to be a vision for peace in order for us to head toward peace," Bush said.
