The flurry of Middle East peace diplomacy continued yesterday, with an unannounced meeting between King Abdullah of Jordan and Syria's President Hafez al-Assad in Damascus, as well as the first visit by a Palestinian official to Israel's parliament, the Knesset.
Both developments came on the eve of a meeting scheduled for today between the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, and the Palestinian Authority chairman, Mr Yasser Arafat.
The Jordanian monarch, who is keen to play a mediating role in the peace process, headed for Damascus only hours after arriving back from the funeral of King Hassan of Morocco, in Rabat on Sunday.
King Abdullah was anxious to brief the Syrian President on his meetings at the funeral with the US President, Mr Bill Clinton, and Mr Barak. The three leaders had used the opportunity to discuss steps to revive the Middle East peace process.
After his Damascus meeting, the Jordanian leader telephoned the Israeli Prime Minister last night to update him.
While Mr Barak, who is keen to re-energise the long-dormant peace process, mingled with Arab leaders at the funeral - in one historic meeting he exchanged words and a handshake with Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika - the ultra-cautious Mr Assad chose to stay away, apparently fearing that he might be pressed into meeting the Israeli leader, a step he still sees as premature.
Syria has repeatedly stated that it is ready to reopen talks with Israel, on condition that the Israelis agree to a full withdrawal from the strategic Golan Heights, an undertaking they insist was made by the late prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin. Israel, however, has not accepted this precondition, but has suggested that the two sides restart talks and bring their differing interpretations to the negotiating table.
The Lebanese militant group Hizbullah yesterday vowed to step up, not halt, its attacks on Israeli targets in occupied south Lebanon during any peace negotiations between Beirut and Israel.
Hizbullah's secretary-general, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, rejected US pressure for a ceasefire, accusing Washington of trying to deprive the Arab side of any bargaining power in peace talks with Israel.
"The occupation of our land justifies armed resistance to recover it, whether the two sides are negotiating or not," Sheikh Nasrallah said. "It's strange that Ehud Barak is allowed to go to the negotiating table armed with a new delivery of fighter-bombers and a billion dollars a year in military aid, yet the Arab delegations must go there empty-handed without the card of the resistance, the most important lever they have against the Israeli occupier," he said.
"We are more than ever convinced of the need not only to continue the resistance but to step it up and make it more efficient," he said. "In reality, when the Americans urge us to halt our attacks, it just convinces us of the need to continue them."