Representatives from Lebanon, Syria and Israel are to meet today at Nakura, in neutral territory in southern Lebanon, to try and agree on a way to halt the vicious fighting that has erupted in the area this week.
The meeting is also to be attended by officials from the US and France, and its convening apparently marks an effort by all sides involved in the latest violence to de-escalate a situation that could otherwise lead to all-out war.
Residents of northern Israel spent a third night in succession in their bomb shelters last night, in fear of Hizbullah rocket attack, and much of Lebanon braced for further Israeli air raids.
But while Israel's Foreign Minister, Mr David Levy, upped the level of rhetoric by warning that "the soil of Lebanon will burn" if Katyusha rockets fell inside Israel, there had been no such fire as of late evening.
And although there was one relatively minor Israeli air raid on a Hizbullah position, the signs were that all sides were essentially in waiting mode, preferring to give today's meeting a chance of breaking the cycle of attacks.
The forum being convened in Nakura was set up in April 1996, in the wake of Israel's massive bombardment of Lebanon, remembered as the "Grapes of Wrath" operation, and was designed to ensure that various "understandings" be observed by the warring parties.
Israel claims that Hizbullah has been breaking one of these understandings, which barred it from using residential areas as cover to fire on Israeli soldiers stationed inside the Israeli-occupied south Lebanon security zone.
In response, overnight on Tuesday, Israel fired missiles at Hizbullah targets - including a radar station in a block of flats and an ammunition dump - inside civilian areas, a high-risk operation that, had the missiles missed their mark, could have killed many ordinary Lebanese.
The US, while working behind the scenes to halt the violence, has been defending Israel's actions, which included missile attacks on three major power stations in Lebanon overnight on Monday.
"Hizbullah has taken actions that have deteriorated the situation," said Mr Martin Indyk, the newly-arrived US ambassador in Israel, referring to the deaths of six Israeli soldiers in the past two weeks.
The Arab world, by contrast, has been unanimous in blaming Israel for the upsurge in violence. "The mask is off," declared the Syrian state daily Tishreen yesterday, accusing Israel's Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, of "spreading false slogans of peace while sending his planes to hit Lebanon's power stations".
Mr Barak is fervently hoping that today's meeting - if it goes ahead as planned - will stem the violence, and that Syria, and later Lebanon, will join him at resumed peace negotiations.
One of the keys to his election success last summer was a pledge to pull Israeli troops out of Lebanon by July, and to do that safely he needs a partnership with Syria and Lebanon.
The prime minister had said he would withdraw to the international border with or without a deal, but one of his ministers, Mr Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, said yesterday that this might not happen, since Israel's great fear is that Hizbullah would pursue the troops up to the border and then start targeting residential northern Israel.
But if Mr Barak reneges on his pledge, he would be likely to pay a heavy political price from an electorate that would feel betrayed.
Pressure for a unilateral pullout grows in Israel with each soldier's death. Even serving soldiers talk openly now of their desperation to get out of Lebanon - a desire only heightened by the recent Hizbullah "successes", where troops have been killed by missile fire that pierced the defences of their lookout positions.
The Saudi billionaire, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has donated $5 million to help repair three Lebanese power stations damaged by Israeli bombing, the prince's Kingdom Holdings Co said yesterday.
A company spokesman said the prince's donation aimed to open the door to Arab contributions to help Lebanon repair the damage.
The prince, one of the world's richest investors, donated $7 million last year to rebuild two Lebanese power stations after they were damaged by Israeli attacks in June.