Large arrest operations carried out by Israel and the Palestinian Authority show that while there is no diplomatic process ongoing between the two sides, security co-ordination is still functioning.

The IDF and Shin Bet arrested 29 Hamas activists in the Nablus area last week. According to an official Shin Bet statement, those arrested were planning to rebuild the Hamas infrastructure in the West Bank and were being financed and directed by "Hamas headquarters abroad".

The arrests followed a smaller operation in which Shin Bet said it had caught a Hamas cell of two men in the Abu Dis area of east Jerusalem. The cell was said to be planning a checkpoint shooting. Last weekend the PA carried out its own widespread arrests of more than 100 Hamas members throughout the West Bank in an attempt to counter the terrorist group's efforts to re-establish its eroded presence.

The Fatah-dominated PA's overriding interest is preserving its rule in the West Bank and keeping Hamas out - an objective it can only efficiently achieve by working with Israel.