Most of the nervous bloggers I know have been unwilling to give Mahmoud Abbas too much credit without knowing he's not going to turn into another Arafat. But today...

The Palestinian leadership banned civilians Thursday from carrying weapons its latest step aimed at reining in violence while awaiting Israel's response to a proposed mutual ceasefire.

If enforced, the ban on weapons would be a strong move against guerrilla groups, whose gunmen often openly brandish their automatic weapons in the streets of Gaza and the West Bank - reflecting the lack of control by the Palestinian security forces.

In the next step to impose order, the Palestinian security forces were preparing to move into the volatile southern Gaza Strip to prevent rocket and other attacks into Israel, extending their control from the northern part of Gaza, where they deployed earlier.

I can't help but cling to the hope that we might actually be getting somewhere with the Middle East.