After two days during which Israel is keeping the West Bank and Gaza Strip sealed off while it marks a grim Independence Day, and amid ever louder calls from Islamic extremists and Palestinian rejectionists for a concerted "holy war", the desperate diplomatic effort to broker a ceasefire to the seven-month Israeli-Palestinian conflict is set to resume tomorrow. Security officials from both sides, possibly with American mediation, are set to meet in the morning. And Israel's Foreign Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, who flies to the United States next week for a meeting with the Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, is travelling first to meet President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, to proffer what appears to be conditional Israeli acceptance of a Jordanian-Egyptian plan for halting the violence and resuming peace negotiations.
But an encouraging relative lull in violence yesterday, which followed a telephone conversation between the Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, and Mr Omri Sharon, son and chief adviser to Israel's Prime Minister, gave way last night to more violence: at least four members of Mr Arafat's Fatah forces were killed, and several more badly injured, in Rafah at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, in a bombing that Palestinians blamed on Israel. Israeli military officials denied involvement.
Palestinians fired mortars at Israeli targets in Gaza, and there were exchanges of gunfire on the southern edge of Jerusalem. According to the Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, Mr Arafat had said in the phone call that he was doing his utmost to prevent the mortar fire.
One of Mr Arafat's ministers, Mr Nabil Sha'ath, warned that the Palestinians would "not accept any substantive change" to the Jordanian-Egyptian plan, which has already been approved by the Palestinian leadership. However, the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mr Amr Moussa, was more conciliatory, indicating a willingness to consider amendments. Neither Mr Peres nor Mr Sharon, in interviews coinciding with Israel's 53rd Independence Day today, would detail the nature of their proposed amendments. However, Mr Sharon plainly objects to clauses calling for a settlement freeze and for a resumed effort to achieve a permanent peace treaty. Instead, he is seeking more detailed clauses guaranteeing a halt in violence, and wants to enter negotiations for "interim" rather than permanent peace accords.
Citing security concerns Israel barred Palestinians from its territory both yesterday, when it held ceremonies marking its war dead, and for today's Independence Day.
In gloomy Memorial Day remarks, Israel's Defence Minister, Mr Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, compared the current embattled atmosphere to that of 1948, when Israel was established, and said his despair was all the greater because, until the latest outburst of conflict, genuine peace had seemed so close.