June 26, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 25,1424

TEL AVIV, June 25: As the Palestinian uprising passed the 1,000-day mark amid unabated bloodshed, hope was emerging that a truce agreement could herald the implementation of a peace plan and break the intifada’s daily cycle of violence.

Opinions diverge on whether the intifada was really started by the controversial Sept 28, 2000, visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound by then opposition leader Ariel Sharon, often considered the spark which set the region ablaze.

However, the ensuing clashes, which claimed their first victims on Sept 29, clearly rung the death knell for the 1990s Oslo peace process and swept in a new level of confrontation between the two sides.

Deep into the intifada’s third year, international efforts for a political settlement are currently at their peak, amid hopes the so-called United States-backed peace roadmap can put an end to the rampant destruction, which has resulted in almost 3,400 dead.

The unprecedented flurry of diplomatic activity has nevertheless failed to silence sceptics on both sides.

Detractors warn the security agreement currently in the works between the sides is too reminiscent of a previous deal which collapsed last year after only a few weeks.

Some Israeli officials still favouring the military option charge that a truce with hardline Palestinian groups will only buy armed groups, like Islamic radicals Hamas, time to reorganise themselves.—AFP