Peres, Arafat call for measures to end Mideast violence

GAZA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Gaza Strip -- In truce talks held at the urging of the United States, Israel and the Palestinians agreed Wednesday on a series of confidence-building measures aimed at ending a year of fighting.

The two sides said they would resume security coordination and exert maximum efforts to enforce a cease-fire. In a first gesture, Israel was to ease security closures that have severely disrupted daily life in the Palestinian areas.

Yet violence continued even as the two leaders met, underscoring the fragility of a truce. Just three miles from the meeting site, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy was killed and 11 youngsters were wounded when Israeli troops fired on a crowd of stone-throwers.

Earlier, three Israeli soldiers were wounded when Palestinians set off an explosion at an army post in the same area.

Both sides approached the talks with great skepticism.