BETHLEHEM, West Bank (REUTERS) — A glimmer of hope dawned in the Middle East Friday after President Bush called for a halt to Israel’s drive into the West Bank and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat endorsed his statement.

Bush, speaking as Israeli forces pushed forward their offensive in Palestinian cities in the West Bank Thursday, answered criticism he was not doing enough to halt the crisis by stepping up U.S. involvement in Middle East diplomacy.

He asked Israel to halt incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas and to begin withdrawing from West Bank cities its army has occupied since last Friday.

“The storms of violence cannot go on,” Bush said. “Enough is enough.”

He ordered Secretary of State Colin Powell to go to the region to revive efforts to achieve a ceasefire.

The U.N. Security Council later endorsed Bush’s plan to send Powell to the region and also demanded Israel withdraw from Palestinian cities.

The resolution, passed by a 15-0 vote, demanded implementation “without delay” of the council’s Resolution 1402, adopted last Saturday. It called for a “meaningful ceasefire” and Israeli troop withdrawal from Palestinian cities.

In his speech, Bush also called on the Palestinians to stop suicide bombings in their more than 18-month-old uprising against Israeli occupation and criticized Arafat, who remains besieged at his West Bank headquarters.

Bush spoke shortly after Israel sent tanks into the city of Hebron and as troops battled gunmen in the cities and refugee camps near Nablus and Jenin, leading to more bloodshed.

Israel said it would allow U.S. Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni to visit Arafat, in what would be the first face-to-face contact the Palestinian president has had with a foreign dignitary since tanks smashed into his compound in Ramallah last Friday.

The meeting was expected to take place Friday.

Arafat said he accepted Bush’s call for an immediate Israeli withdrawal from West Bank towns as a prelude to achieving a ceasefire and peace talks.

A statement by the Palestinian leadership also underscored the importance of a Saudi-sponsored Arab peace plan offering to normalize relations with Israel in return for full withdrawal from Arab lands occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.

“From our side, we are committed to the declaration of President Bush without conditions,” the statement said.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told U.S. television network CNN that Arafat welcomed a meeting with Powell and hoped for a speedy implementation of the roadmap specified by the U.S. president.

A senior Palestinian source said Powell spoke by telephone to Arafat late Thursday, but gave no details.

Powell, who also spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Thursday, was expected to visit the region next week.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres welcomed Bush “joining in the effort to bring about a ceasefire with the Palestinians in order to bring about the resumption of the peace process, which is a basic Israeli interest.”

“We heard positively what the president said about the need to bring an end to terror. We welcome the visit of Secretary of State Powell to the area and will do all that we can to ensure its success,” Peres said.

His statement made no direct response, however, to Bush’s call on Israel to halt its drive into West Bank cities.

Israel launched its offensive last Friday after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 26 Israelis. It says it wants to root out people responsible for a spate of bombings.

Palestinians say Sharon’s offensive aims to oust or kill Arafat, destroy his Palestinian Authority, scrap interim peace deals signed since 1993 and block their hopes of independence. Israel says it will not harm the Palestinian leader.

With growing international concern over escalating violence in the Middle East, Bush’s speech was widely praised.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed his call for an Israeli pullout and said he was encouraged Washington was stepping up its engagement. French President Jacques Chirac called the speech a turning point in the search for a ceasefire, and Britain and Italy also welcomed it.

As diplomatic efforts to halt the crisis picked up, violence raged in the West Bank, where all large towns and cities handed over to Palestinian self-rule have now been reoccupied by the Israelis, with the exception of Jericho.

Troops fought gunmen in the northern city of Jenin, and the army said late Thursday that two Israeli soldiers had been killed by Palestinian gunfire. Medical workers said three Palestinians had also been killed.