CAIRO, Egypt - Angry as they are with Israel's handling of unrest in Palestinian areas, Arab leaders meeting Saturday for the first time in four years appeared unlikely to abandon the peace process as many of their citizens demand.
On the streets, outrage directed at Israel in near daily demonstrations has been turning against Arab leaders, with Egyptian protesters on Friday calling Arab governments ''cowardly'' for failing to cut ties with Israel or declare a holy war.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrilla group called on Arab leaders to take ''practical measures'' to help Palestinians rise up, provide them with weapons to defend themselves, open their borders to those wishing to join a holy war against Israel and cut off diplomatic and economic relations.
In the Jordanian capital, Amman, some residents said the only way a Arab summit could meet people's expectations was if it called for war, which foreign ministers preparing for Saturday's gathering have said they have no intention of doing.
''If it will not call for holy war against the Jews, it has failed,'' declared Jawad Mubarak, 44, an Amman bookstore clerk.
Deadly rioting in Israel and the Palestinian areas began Sept. 28 after hard-line Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, a site also holy to Jews as the Temple Mount.
The visit came as Israel and the Palestinians tried to resolve one of their most sensitive issues - the fate of Jerusalem and its many sites holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians.
Friday, the Israeli deadline for a truce, was the deadliest day of fighting in two weeks, with clashes at West Bank checkpoints killing several Palestinians. It wasn't clear whether ''understandings'' reached Tuesday between the two sides at a summit mediated by President Clinton could survive.
When asked about that, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said on arriving in Egypt: ''This is what we are going to discuss at the (Arab) summit.''
Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said he and his counterparts preparing a resolution to be endorsed by Arab heads of state gathering in Cairo were working not only as officials, but also as Arabs who share the anger of their people.
''We have to translate our feelings as Arab citizens to our official responsibility,'' he said. ''In the end, I think it will meet with all the hopes of the Arabs - if they are within the realm of reason and possibility and if the measures taken are subtle and necessary.''
Moussa refused to divulge any details of the draft resolution.
Syria's state-run newspapers, calling for a revival of an Arab boycott of Israel, said Friday it is the public's right to press its leaders for action.
''Most important for us as Arabs at this difficult time is to cling to firm Arab nationalism and to take actual moves in the direction of cutting relations with Israel,'' Al-Baath, mouthpiece of Baath ruling party, said in a front-page editorial.
The last emergency Arab summit was held in Egypt in 1996, when Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Israel's prime minister. Then, Arab states warned they would reconsider their role in the peace process and economic ties with Israel if it did not stick to the principle of trading land for peace.
Now, however, Egypt is not ready to give up on the peace process. It has staked its credibility on joint efforts with the United States to get the two sides talking again.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose country was the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel, repeatedly has said war is not an option. Egypt and Jordan, the only other Arab nation to have signed a peace treaty with Israel, were expected to fend off any moves toward more radical demands.
