THE No 18 bus, which runs through central Jerusalem from the Katamon neighbourhood, is usually jammed with blue collar workers on Sunday mornings, since Sunday is the first day of the Israeli work week.
But yesterday, not surprisingly, No 18 after No 18 cruised along the route all but empty early on the two previous Sundays, Hamas suicide bombers had carried explosives onto No 18 buses and detonated them as they passed through town.
This weekend, Hamas issued a leaflet in Gaza stating that an earlier offer of a ceasefire had now been cancelled in protest at the joint Israeli Palestinian Authority crackdown on its activities and that more bombings were now in prospect.
The first bomb free Sunday in three had ordinary Israelis breathing tentative sighs of, relief yesterday. Some Israeli officials issued rare compliments to Mr Yasser Arafat's security forces for taking their struggle against Hamas "to a whole new level", in the words of Gen Oren, Shahor, the Israeli army's co ordinator of activities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
And while no Israeli or Palestinian official was so irresponsible as to claim that the wave of bombings might now be over, there were unmistakable signs the "all out war" Prime Minister Shimon Peres had vowed to fight against Hamas is now being waged by Israel and Mr Arafat's forces alike.
Hundreds of Hamas activists are now in Israeli and Palestinian custody, and the interrogation of so large a number of Islamists is starting to pay dividends. At least three of the top six people on an Israeli compiled list of key Hamas bombing suspects are now in Mr Aratat's custody, including Mr Abdel Fatah Satari, the alleged commander of the Izzedin al Qassam military wing.
Of the several other central Hamas figures still being sought, the most dangerous are said to be Mr Muhammad Dif and Mr Hassan Salameh, both of whom are believed to have been directly involved in the four attacks that have killed about 60 people in the past fortnight.
Israeli sources said at the weekend Mr Arafat had resisted a direct confrontation with Hamas even as late as the end of February - after the two suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Ashkelon on February 25th - believing a political accommodation could yet be reached, and that those blasts represented a one time Hamas revenge action for the January assassination of its chief bomb maker, Yihya Ayash.
Only when the bombers struck again a week later, in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, did he suspend all political contacts and outlaw the Hamas military wing.
Israeli pressure on Mr Arafat has been reinforced by the US which sent its deputy CIA director, Mr George Tenet, to meet him on Saturday. President Clinton has underlined his commitment to aid the fight against the militants by agreeing to co host Wednesday's international summit on terrorism in Egypt, which is also being attended by 30 or more countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman, which are usually reluctant to participate in conferences attended by Israel. The Taoiseach will also attend.
Israel, meanwhile, is keeping the West Bank and Gaza sealed and the government yesterday gave permission for 16,000 additional foreign workers to be brought in to replace some of the 60,000 Palestinians now barred from their jobs in the Israeli construction and agriculture sectors.
. Two Israeli soldiers were killed, and four others wounded, by a roadside bomb in south Lebanon yesterday. The Iranian backed Hizbollah militia admitted responsibility for the attack.