It was the clearest image yet of a fragile ceasefire taking hold: uniformed Israeli and Palestinian officers stood side by side near Gaza's Netzarim junction yesterday, scene of some of the heaviest fighting these past nine months, and talked relatively easily with each other as an Israeli bulldozer shifted concrete blocks from the centre of the road, opening to traffic the route between the cities of Gaza and Khan Younis.
In the adjoining "liaison office", a wall still separates the Israeli and Palestinian wings. But if the psychological barrier has been broken, the concrete one will doubtless come down too - provided the dramatic lull in violence since the ceasefire accord was finalised last Wednesday is maintained.
The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, visiting the region to capitalise on the ceasefire, said yesterday the two sides now needed to move on - to build mutual confidence and return to substantive peace negotiations. What was required, he said, was "a clear definition of the road ahead, with time lines, so people do not think the only thing we are dealing with is the ceasefire".
And therein lies the next test of this tentative process and, particularly, of Israel's unity government. The smart political analysis was always that the improbable partnership between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres would last only so long as the guns were firing. And so it is proving. Mr Sharon, after all, is a Likud hardliner who reminded the world just a few days ago that he considers Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to be "a murderer" and "a pathological liar". Mr Peres is the architect of the Oslo attempt at peacemaking with Mr Arafat, his Nobel Peace partner.
Now, with a tense calm prevailing on the ground, Mr Sharon and Mr Peres have reached the end of their unity honeymoon. And the cracks have been exposed by, of all people, Mr Annan.
It was the UN Secretary General who suggested to Mr Peres on Saturday that he arrange three-way talks - Peres-Arafat-Annan - towards a resumption of serious peace negotiations. Mr Peres dutifully sought Mr Sharon's consent.
The Prime Minister promised to give the matter some thought, but hadn't been back in touch with Mr Peres before, yesterday morning, Israeli radio reported that he'd blocked the idea.
Fuming at both the rejection and the Prime Minister's failure to tell him about it, Mr Peres castigated Mr Sharon, declaring: "I won't take orders from you." Mr Sharon's Likud party ministerial colleagues reminded Mr Peres that "there is only one prime minister".
Mr Sharon and Mr Peres were last night meeting to try and heal the rift, with reports Mr Sharon might approve the three-way talks next week.
Despite that upbeat image from Netzarim, peace has not quite broken out all over. Rafah, at the foot of the Gaza Strip, remains a hot spot. Palestinian troops shot dead a 12-year-old Palestinian boy there on Saturday during gun-battles in which Israeli soldiers reportedly played no role: the PA forces were countering gunmen who were opening fire on Israeli positions in defiance of the ceasefire.
Also in Gaza, yesterday, a would-be bomber driving a donkey-cart laden with explosives was badly hurt by his own bomb when approaching an army position. Only three West Bank cities have had their Israeli army blockades lifted.