Dennis Ross starts his visit to the area

Before the anticipated Oslo summit between US President Bill Clinton, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in the coming month, Washington intensified its efforts in order to push forward the final status negotiations as Dennis Ross, the US coordinator for the Middle East peace process, arrived tonight in the Palestinian territories and held discussions immediately after his arrival with Arafat.

Ross headed today to Israel where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to discuss the coordinating steps and prepare for the anticipated trilateral summit.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy headed today to Washington to hold talks with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright according to her invitation to discuss peace in the Middle East.