TWO anti tank mines, two bottles of petrol, some ball bearings, some nails and a rudimentary, low voltage, battery operated detonator packed carefully into a dark green Israeli army hold all, these are the all too accessible components with which the suicide bombers of Hamas have brought Middle East peace hopes to the brink of collapse.
And as preparations gathered for tomorrow's international response to those bombings - a one day summit on countering terrorism, hosted by Egypt in the Red Sea resort of Sharm alSheikh - rumours were sweeping Israel yesterday that another wave of attacks was imminent.
Palestinian security officials denied one report which claims that no fewer than five human bombers have been armed. With the deadly holdalls and told to wait for the signal to act. And there were less vehement denials of reports that a young West Banker, a possible bombing recruit, has gone missing from his home and is desperately being hunted down.
What is certain is that Israeli and US security officials are maintaining their pressure on the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, urging Mr Yasser Arafat to arrest several more key Hamas militants before the conference. Three Hamas including Mohammad Dil, believed to be the bomb maker in chief, are still on the run.
The fear is that Hamas may want to time another bombing to coincide with the conference, as a deliberate rebuff to the leaders of the 30 nations gathering to discuss methods to counter the Islamic extremists.
For a few hours yesterday, Israel lifted the blockade it has maintained for over a week on 460 West Bank Palestinian villages - enabling those villagers with any money to stock up on essential supplies. But Israeli sources indicated that the villages would remain sealed off, and the ban on all Palestinians crossing into Israel from Gaza and the West Bank would remain in force, until the other alleged Hamas masterminds have been either captured or eliminated.
President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, co hosting tomorrow's conference with President Clinton, visited the Sharm al Sheikh resort yesterday to oversee the security arrangements. He said he hoped the talks would lead to "specific conclusions" about countering terrorism, "otherwise the peace process will reach a deadlock".
Indeed, Syria's failure to condemn the bombings has already led Israel to suspend its peace negotiations with Damascus, while the Prime Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, has indicated that the next phase of the accords with the Palestinians - Israel's troop withdrawal from Hebron - will not proceed as scheduled later this month unless Mr Arafat first smashes the Ham as infrastructure in Gaza.
Mr Peres's strong lead in opinion polls ahead of May's elections was wiped out by spate of bombings. And his Likud rival, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, has been strengthened further by a deal reached with the former Likud foreign minister Mr Levy, that leaves Mr Netanyahu heading a unified right wing bloc.
David Horovitz is managing editor of the Jerusalem Report AFP adds: A Palestinian baby boy died after soldiers refused to allow his parents leave their West Bank town to take him to an Israeli hospital for treatment, Palestinian and Israeli sources said yesterday.
Their ambulance was blocked for two hours at an Israeli army roadblock late Sunday as soldiers refused to let it pass.