It's a good sign to hear Mr. Peres speaking. I think he is the first Israeli official to apologize for this, and I hope that many Israeli officials will condemn this crime, which will not be justified.

We discussed the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza which has come about because of the Israeli siege.

The basic ingredient for all the ails that we are witnessing there is the continuation of the Israeli occupation, and this must end, ... President Arafat is determined to exert every possible effort in order to ensure ... the Israeli occupation is finished and peace is made once and all.

And, once again, we reiterate, we don't condone the killings of Israeli civilians -- or Palestinian civilians for that matter.

He cannot continue to depend on what his ears hear from Sharon's lips. ... This is a fatal mistake of the U.S. administration.

What we need to do is to see an immediate implementation of the Mitchell recommendations. But above anything else ... we need the Israeli government to join us at the negotiating table.