A day after its security forces killed three of their own people, and more than 200 people were injured in the heaviest internal violence for years, the Palestinian Authority yesterday set up a commission of inquiry into the clashes. It also moved to prevent further outbreaks by closing schools for the day and shutting down two universities for the rest of the week.
Nevertheless, there were further small demonstrations - protests against PA policy and Monday's killings, and expressions of support for Osama bin Laden - in some West Bank cities and in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, home to one of the men shot dead.
Panicked PA officials - well aware of the tendency for this internal conflict to escalate into civil war, and worried too by the damage being done to the image of Palestinians in the West by the pro-bin Laden public mood - convened a late night meeting on Monday at which Hamas and other militant factions drafted a joint statement expressing "deep concern over the grave incident".
Still, Hamas spokesmen yesterday criticised the PA for resorting to live fire to disperse Monday's protests, and also reiterated their support for bin Laden and opposition to the much-breached ceasefire in the Intifada conflict against Israel, which PA President Yasser Arafat has been trying to enforce.
Ceasefire or not, the daily toll of violence is continuing: five Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces in the past two days, including three men who were said by Israeli military officials to have been trying to plant an explosive device at the Gaza-Israel border.
Israeli troops also took control of two houses and seized Palestinian fields in southern Gaza from which they said they had come under fire. An Israeli was shot and badly injured in the area on Monday night. Another Israeli was stabbed and lightly wounded in the West Bank.
The grave internal tension in PA-controlled areas stems from Mr Arafat's determination to avoid repeating his mistake of a decade ago, when he sided with Saddam Hussein in the Gulf conflict. So anxious, indeed, is the PA to be seen distancing itself from bin Laden that PA security forces confiscated TV film of Monday's protests when Hamas supporters brandished posters of bin Laden and they even prevented some crews from entering Gaza to cover the events. This drew a letter of complaint from the local Foreign Press Association yesterday.
Buoyed by a comment last week from President Bush, that the creation of an independent Palestinian state had always been part of the American vision for the Middle East, Mr Arafat is clearly anxious to strengthen ties with Washington.