In the contradictory new reality of Israeli-Palestinian relations, Israeli forces killed six Palestinians yesterday while leaders on both sides talked enthusiastically about the prospect of an imminent resumption of peace negotiations.
Yesterday's deaths mean that more than 320 people have been killed in violence that has now entered its 12th week - with more than 270 of the victims being Palestinians.
What has changed in the last few days, however, is the upsurge in incidents in which Israeli forces have apparently taken the initiative: At least two of the men who died yesterday, in the Nablus area, were senior members of the Islamic Jihad militant movement, and while Israeli military officials said that they were intercepted en route to carry out some kind of attack on an Israeli target, Palestinian sources said that their killings were unprovoked.
One of yesterday's other Palestinian fatalities, shot dead by Israeli troops at the Erez crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, was killed as he attempted to stab three Israelis and was found to be carrying two explosive devices on his body, Israeli officials said. A Palestinian teenager was killed by live fire in Nablus, and a Palestinian policeman was killed, Palestinian sources said, when Israeli forces fired on a checkpoint in Ramallah.
In Jerusalem, meanwhile, the third Friday of Ramadan saw some 40,000 worshippers gather at the Haram al-Sharif - the Temple Mount compound in Jeruslam's Old City - for prayers, with entrance again restricted, on the whole, to women and to middle-aged men. Younger Muslims clashed with police throughout the late morning, and the police used stun grenades and rubbercoated steel bullets and waded into the crowds on horseback to disperse protesters.
The Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, called yesterday's violence a "dangerous escalation". But it came amid ever more upbeat indications of possible progress on the diplomatic front.
Late on Thursday night, Mr Arafat had sat for almost four hours at the Erez crossing with Israel's Foreign Minister, Mr Shlomo Ben-Ami, discussing a possible return to the negotiating table as early as this coming week. Remarkably, Mr Ben-Ami described this meeting as "exceptional", and even Palestinian spokesmen called it "encouraging". A second meeting between the two is likely in the very near future.
According to the Palestinians, Mr Ben-Ami indicated that his Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, facing elections within two months and desperate for some kind of deal with Mr Arafat to secure his re-election, is ready to move "beyond" the positions he adopted at the failed Camp David peace summit last summer.
Mr Arafat, for his part, is said to be ready to resume intensive negotiations, in an effort to wrap up some kind of agreement in the final weeks of the Clinton administration. Apparently, the sides are talking of another "interim" accord - with debate on the toughest issues, such as the status of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugee rights, to be deferred, perhaps for many years.
It is hard to reconcile the optimism with the incessant violence on the ground. Nevertheless, there is every awareness, on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, that the departure of President Clinton will see the Middle East moving far down the list of American priorities.
President-elect George Bush is unlikely, to put it mildly, to devote entire weeks of his schedule to attempted mediating between Israeli and Palestinian leaders - as Mr Clinton did in July.
Even if he were to take an interest, he lacks the personal expertise that Mr Clinton has accrued, and therefore could not possibly take any kind of leading role in the early months of his administration.
Reuters adds: French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, who is visiting Jordan, expressed hope yesterday that political contacts under way between Israel and the Palestinians would lead to a resumption of frozen peace talks.
"The will for dialogue is there and the political contacts could lead to real dialogue and real negotiations which we hope will solve the fundamental problems," Mr Vedrine said.