Israeli security forces opened fire from helicopters at Palestinians on Sunday, stepping up their response to four days of clashes in which at least 28 Arabs and one Israeli soldier have been killed. Israeli and Palestinian officials said in separate statements that there was agreement on both sides to end the bloodiest violence to sweep the West Bank, Gaza strip and Jerusalem for at least four years. Witnesses said that some flashpoint areas appeared calm late on Sunday, but clashes continued in northern Israeli Arab towns, where fighting spread earlier in the day. Reports from medical sources and hospitals said that nine Palestinians, including at least two young boys, and one Israeli Arab were killed on Sunday. The Israeli army said one of its soldiers was killed.
Israeli and Palestinian officials said in separate statements that there was agreement on both sides to end the bloodiest violence to sweep the West Bank, Gaza strip and Jerusalem for at least four years. Witnesses said that some flashpoint areas appeared calm late on Sunday, but clashes continued in northern Israeli Arab towns, where fighting spread earlier in the day. Reports from medical sources and hospitals said that nine Palestinians, including at least two young boys, and one Israeli Arab were killed on Sunday. The Israeli army said one of its soldiers was killed. Checks by Reuters with hospitals put the Arab death toll since Thursday at 28. Two Israeli soldiers died late last week in unrelated attacks. Both sides used live ammunition in battles that have wounded hundreds of palestinians and dozens of Israeli soldiers and further undermined hopes the two sides will soon reach a peace deal. Fighting raged with guns, sticks, stones and rocks. Israel's acting foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, said in a statement that Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar told him that he had received a message from Palestinian President Yasser Arafat saying ''Arafat will announce a stop in the firing and rioting at 2000 (10:30 pm IST) on Sunday evening ''.

Palestinian official Nabil Abu Rdainah told Reuters that the Israelis had offered to stop firing on Palestinians at 8 pm (10:30 pm IST). ''We will wait and see if they will continue to respect their commitments tomorrow,'' Abu Rdainah said. Spanish television reported that Aznar had offered to act as a mediator in telephone conversations with Barak and Arafat. Spain, which hosted the landmark 1991 Middle East peace conference in Madrid, maintains good relations with both the Israeli government and the Palestinian authority. Witnesses to Sunday's clashes said that Israeli helicopters fired at Palestinian protesters in the West Bank city of Nablus. A military source confirmed that helicopters had opened fire but would not say if they had shot at protesters. Near Kiryat Arba, a Jewish settlement adjacent to the west Bank city of Hebron, settlers shot and wounded five Palestinians, witnesses said. They said that the settlers also attacked Palestinian houses in the heart of the divided city. Fighting began on Thursday after Israeli right-wing likud-party leader Ariel Sharon, reviled by many Arabs, visited a Jerusalem shrine sacred to Muslims and Jews. Bureau Report