Dare we hope....

....that there will be peace in Palestine at along last? In a very encouraging sign, Palestine has agreed to post guards to prevent attacks on Israel.

Hundreds of Palestinian security officers were expected to be deployed in Gaza Friday after a rare meeting between Palestinian security chiefs and Israeli generals on how to silence a wave of rocket and mortar fire into southern Israel.

The first effort at security collaboration in at least 18 months marked a swift reversal of Ariel Sharon's decision from the weekend to suspend contacts with the fledgling Palestinian administration, and could give President Mahmoud Abbas the necessary breathing room to reach a critical cease-fire agreement with Hamas.

After four years of refusing to deal with Yasser Arafat over his failure to rein in Palestinian militants, the Israeli about-face held out a tentative hope that Messrs Sharon and Abbas could forge a new understanding on ending the Palestinian uprising.

Abbas must hold up his end of the bargain, but this is certainly a step in the right direction.

UPDATE: Apparently Abbas has upheld his end of the bargain.

Thousands of armed Palestinian police took up positions in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday to prevent attacks on Israel, and Islamic militants said they were suspending rocket fire — major steps toward a possible truce after more than four years of bloody Mideast conflict.

In another sign that a cease-fire deal could be imminent, a Palestinian official said after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and the militant group Hamas met in Gaza that Egypt likely would host a high-level meeting between the two sides in Cairo soon to finalize an agreement.

Everyone must hold their breath, I think, but at least events are moving in the right direction — for now.