A day after the Sharm al-Sheikh summit, Palestinian television and radio stations yesterday broadcast the laconic announcement that the "Palestinian leadership" was seeking to prevent further violence. Gradually, as day gave way to night, the first faint signs emerged that almost three weeks of intensive Israeli-Palestinian fighting, in which more than 100 Palestinians have been killed, might, just might, be subsiding.
Nobody, on either side, believes the mini-war is over. Marwan Barghouti, once a key henchman of the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, whose loyalty to his elected leader is now increasingly in doubt, insisted again the "new intifada" would go on, and that his paramilitary fighters were now working in partnership with the Islamic militants.
However, Mr Arafat's senior officers - his uniformed and plain-clothed security chiefs - held meetings throughout the day with their Israeli counterparts, and although there were several incidents of heavy gunfire, and an attack last night in Gaza on a bus carrying women and children home to one of the settlements, both sides were making the right noises about seeking to make a success of the ceasefire.
In Gaza, they went back to school, and the markets reopened. In the West Bank, Israel lifted the blockade it had imposed on each individual Palestinian-controlled city, enabling Palestinians to travel through the West Bank, albeit not into Israel, which is still sealed off to them. Gaza Airport, secured by Israel, was reopened.
Even reports that Israeli undercover troops had captured one or more of the men believed involved in last Thursday's brutal murder of two Israeli reservists at Ramallah police station did not produce an angry response from the Palestinian Authority. It isn't known how many men Israel is holding, nor whether any of them are Palestinian policemen, but Palestinian officials chose not to make an issue of the reports, and Israeli ministers also opted for discretion.
Israel's Deputy Defence Minister, Mr Ephraim Sneh, said Israel had vowed to settle its account with the killers, but would neither confirm nor deny that the process had begun. still, he seemed to in particularly good spirits when declining comment.
In what sounds like a premature move, given the abiding tension, the Clinton Administration is understood to be contemplating inviting Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to Washington next week to discuss a possible resumption of peace talks. Before then, though, Mr Arafat will attend the Arab Summit in Cairo on Saturday at which some analysts believe he may be contemplating a declaration of independent statehood. His aides insist he has no such plans.
Before then, too, Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ehud Barak will have to see whether he can rebuild a majority coalition. Mr Ariel Sharon's Likud is professing a reluctance to join him in an "emergency" unity government, and it is unclear whether his leftwing and Orthodox erstwhile coalition partners are ready to revive what was, in any case, an unreliable partnership.
Meanwhile King Abdullah of Jordan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed yesterday that the Arab summit this weekend needed more preparation to ensure its success. A communique released at the end of Mr Assad's one-day visit to Jordan said the two leaders felt further consultations were essential to ensure the summit adopted a unified stance in support of the Palestinians.