WASHINGTON Ñ The Israeli-Palestinian war has reached a stalemate that could last for years, a new U.S report says.

The report said the war between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is unwinnable and presents a classic case of assymetric warfare. As a result, the conflict can continue for years unless both sides return to the negotiating table and the positions presented last year in the U.S.-sponsored peace process.

"The 'peace process' is becoming a 'war process,' and the tragedy is that the best both sides can hope for is to return to roughly the same compromises proposed at Camp David or Taba," the report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said. "Neither side can really win either a war or a peace, and there is a growing risk that they will become locked into a conflict based on hatred and distrust that can grind on for years."

The report was authored by Anthony Cordesman, a senior fellow at CSIS and a former Pentagon official. Cordesman examines the causes of the new round of conflict and the differing methods used by both sides.

Cordesman was said to have attended a conference last week sponsored by a U.S. institute that brought together retired Israeli and Arab generals.

The participants at the parley held in Germany were said to have agreed that negotiations should be renewed on the basis of the proposals by the Clinton administration last year.

"The best outcome is one in which they grudgingly return to positions similar to those raised at Camp David II, and reach compromises that still remain unsatisfactory to both sides," the report said. "Such a peace is nearly certain to be 'cold,' and based more on exhaustion and hatred than hope and trust. Such a peace will face the constant threat of violence from extremists and terrorists on both sides."

The Israeli-Palestinian war, which began in September, has been completely politicized in an effort to win international support, the report said. The result is an escalation of the conflict.

"It is a reality of asymmetric warfare, however, that no form of killing and collateral damage is clearly more moral or legitimate than another, and that both sides are pushing the other toward a steady series of escalatory actions," the report said.

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