JERUSALEM - A fragile cease-fire agreement failed to halt a spate of fierce gunbattles Tuesday that saw two Palestinians killed and three Israeli security force members wounded, one critically. The 20th day of fighting pushed the death toll past 100.
The agreement in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, called for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to make statements denouncing the violence and committing themselves to peace. But a lengthy statement by the Palestinian leadership, issued late Tuesday night, was largely a list of Palestinian grievances.
''The Palestinian leadership stresses here that our people will not initiate violence, but our people were the victims of this violence,'' the statement said.
Barak promised to swiftly implement the truce declared at the summit.
''Israel intends to implement the understandings which have been drawn up,'' he said after returning home. He said Israeli security forces ''will be meticulous in their efforts to end the violence and prevent further loss of life.''
After so much bloodshed, it wasn't clear whether the truce would take hold, and many Israelis and Palestinians predicted failure.
Shooting broke out before President Clinton announced the truce at midday and carried on through the afternoon and into the evening.
Two Palestinians were shot dead in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. An Israeli paramilitary border policeman was critically wounded in a Jerusalem firefight. Two soldiers were shot and wounded at an army roadblock on the eastern edge of Jerusalem on Tuesday night, a military source said.
Despite the violence, Israel said it was prepared to wait and see if the unrest eased in the hours after the agreement.
''I hope that from (Tuesday) evening we will see the scope of the violence decrease,'' said Danny Yatom, security adviser to Barak.
An Israeli official said the two sides had also reached a secret security deal, a claim denied by the Palestinians. The CIA, which has been involved in monitoring security arrangements, would help implement the agreement, the official said on condition of anonymity. He did not give additional details.
Shortly after the truce was announced, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo in southern Jerusalem. A policeman was shot in the chest and critically wounded, and several homes were raked with gunshots.
Two Israeli tanks returned fire from mounted machine guns, and Israeli security forces temporarily evacuated about 200 Jewish residents from their hilltop homes. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert said the shooting ''was the first test of the cease-fire and it was definitely a failure.''
The Israeli military ordered Palestinians to leave their homes in Beit Jalla, across from Gilo, where the gunfire originated. If the Palestinian gunmen keep shooting at Jewish neighborhoods, ''we will fire both from the tanks and from attack helicopters,'' Israeli Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Eitan said.
The Gilo neighborhood was captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and Palestinians believe it should be returned to them.
In the Gaza Strip, hundreds of Palestinians threw rocks and firebombs at an Israeli military checkpoint in morning clashes that left 10 injured. In the afternoon, a Palestinian policeman was killed by a bullet to the chest, hospital doctors said.
Before the truce was declared, Palestinian farmer Farid Nasrara, 28, was killed by Jewish settlers near the West Bank town of Nablus when he was hit by automatic rifle fire, according to witnesses and doctors.
Palestinian witnesses said the shooting was unprovoked. But Yehoshua Mor-Yosef, a settler spokesman, said the farmers first attacked with knives and iron bars, and the settlers fired warning shots in the air before aiming at the Palestinians. Two settlers were arrested by Israeli police.
A third Palestinian died Tuesday from a gunshot wound to the head two weeks ago, putting the overall death toll at 102, most of them Palestinians.
The fighting is the worst since regular peace negotiations began in 1993. Some Palestinians said they were not ready to end the street protests, and Arafat's ability to rein in militants was also open to question.
Marwan Barghouti, the leader of Arafat's Fatah movement in the West Bank, said the Palestinians shouldn't rely only on negotiations, but should continue to confront Israeli security forces.
''I am telling those who think that this intefadeh (uprising) is a temporary one that they are wrong,'' Barghouti said. ''This intefadeh will continue until we achieve sovereignty.''
The leader of the radical Islamic group Hamas said it was not bound by the deal. ''We will continue fighting,'' declared Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, expressing a militancy that appeared to resonate with many Palestinians.
Barak said it would take two days of calm before Israel would pull back tanks, armored personnel carriers and other heavy weapons from the outskirts of Palestinian areas.
''After 48 hours, if we see there is calm in the field, we will pull back our heavy equipment to the point where they were before the outbreak of the crisis,'' Barak said.
