The Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, which was introduced on Tuesday and is deemed crucial to US efforts to build an international coalition against terrorism, hung in the balance last night after a series of new acts of violence. Yesterday morning, an Israeli woman, Mrs Sarit Amrani (26), was shot dead and her husband badly wounded when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on their car in the West Bank. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Battalion, which is linked to Mr Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction of the PLO, claimed responsibility.
Hours later, Palestinian gunmen opened fire and threw grenades at an Israeli army position at the settlement of Kfar Darom, in the Gaza Strip, slightly wounding five soldiers. The soldiers fired back, and a Palestinian man was killed.
An Israeli security guard was wounded in a shooting attack at the Karni border crossing into Gaza last night. And late on Wednesday night, two Israelis were wounded by a bomb that was detonated beneath their vehicle along the "Green Line" between Israel and the West Bank - in an attack for which the Tanzim, a group that also professes loyalty to Mr Arafat, claimed responsibility.
Even before the killing of Mrs Amrani, the Israeli Prime Minister. Mr Ariel Sharon, telephoned the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, to claim Mr Arafat was not honouring the ceasefire commitment he had issued, under heavy US pressure, on Tuesday. After the killing, Mr Sharon postponed planned talks between his Foreign Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, and Mr Arafat, and ordered an emergency cabinet meeting.
"This ceasefire was respected for a few hours, some 20 hours, and then there was an outbreak of acts of terror," Mr Sharon said. "I am very sorry that the Palestinian Authority did not honor by its commitments, and we will decide today how to act."
Mr Arafat telephoned Mr Peres to express sorrow over the attacks, and said he was working to apprehend the gunmen. His Information Minister, Mr Yasser Abed Rabbo, said: "The Israelis are always looking for excuses \to abrogate the truce. An incident here or an incident there should not affect the basic decision concerning the ceasefire." Mr Ziad Abu Ziad, the Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, said the Palestinian Authority needed "some time" to ensure that the ceasefire was "implemented fully."
Mr Arafat, who convened his cabinet last night, indicated dissatisfaction with Israel's side of the ceasefire bargain, protesting that all Mr Sharon had done since the truce was announced was to withdraw Israeli forces from "a little area of Jenin".
On the Israeli right, there is heavy pressure to declare the ceasefire over and renew operations - such as targeting alleged key militants and incursions into Palestinian-held territory.
However, Mr Sharon has been told by both Mr Powell and President Bush that the last thing the US needs, as it gears up for a response to the September 11th terror attacks, is an escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict and any consequent withering of Arab support for an assault on terrorism.
Mr Arafat is well aware of US thinking, and aware, too, that the US wants him on its side. A major suicide bombing inside Israel at this stage would likely see him ruled out by the US as a potential ally. The kind of incidents yesterday may not.