The United States said on Tuesday that the cessation of violence and terrorism announced by Israel and the Palestinian authority is "an important step on the way towards dismantling terrorist infrastructure."

"We are extremely encouraged by the bold leadership that President Abbas, Prime Minister Sharon, President Mubarak and King Abdullah have demonstrated," said deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli when he was referring to the four-nation summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Expressing cautious optimism over the cease-fire announcement, Ereli said "while we have seen positive steps so far..., we need to be realistic. There are still a lot of hurdles to overcome.

There's still a lot of hard decisions to be made. And there's still a lot of work to do."

"It is a positive step, a marker of progress, but not a final destination," he added.

Israel and the Palestinians concluded a successful summit Tuesday in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh by declaring a ceasefire with each other.

The summit, which brought together Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President

Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II, marked the highest level contact between the Palestinians and Israel in more than four years.

Source: Xinhua