Clamping down

It is that type of scenario that people fear is in the offing once again.

As it became clear over the past few weeks that talks were looming on the horizon, there has been a noticeable increase in violence and provocative acts. At the same time there has seen considerable efforts made by Palestinian and Israeli security forces in a bid to quell any trouble.

In February, half a dozen Palestinian men were arrested in a West Bank village by Palestinian officers as they were said to be preparing a rocket for firing at nearby Israeli targets. The Palestinians said they believed those captured were members of Hamas.

It is understood the Israeli and Palestinian authorities have been trying to prevent repeated violence from erupting on the Temple Mount. There have been clashes at the site holy to Jews and Muslims over the past two weeks.

However, when there are numerous attempts to create unease through violence, some are bound to succeed. An Israeli was stabbed to death while his vehicle stood at a road junction just south of Nablus in the West Bank on Feb. 10.

Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, far-right Israelis are continuing their protests as the city's municipality attempts to evict them from a building it has deemed they are living in illegally.

These and numerous other incidents are adding to the tension surrounding the possible talks that many experts already hold a pessimistic forecast.

Tough talks ahead

"It's all been done before and isn't likely to yield much," said Geoff Porter, director of the Middle East and Africa team at the Eurasia Group.

He does not believe that talking is better than the alternative. What concerns him more is that there are so many groupings in Palestinian politics and that it is only Fatah that has agreed to enter talks with Israel.

"It's really difficult to talk about 'the Palestinians' these days. There are a bunch of different Palestinians and the talks are only involving one faction, so more of a step sideways than backwards or forwards," he said.

In the meanwhile, there lies the obstruction from the rightist side facing the Israeli government in the way of negotiation on a final peace solution.

The lack of unity on the Palestinian side, coupled with likely protest actions from Israeli settlers and their supporters make the chances for success fairly slim, suggested the analysts Xinhua has spoken with in recent weeks.

Some believe that much of the pressure on the parties to begin negotiations is more to do with face saving in Washington than a feeling that the time is ripe for any parley.

More than a year in office, U.S. President Barack Obama and his secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, have admitted that the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is a much tougher nut to crack than they had previously imagined.

Porter argues that Obama is "struggling to stay relevant," and that his climb down on the insistence that Israel implement a full settlement freeze has done him no favors at all.

"Were he to revive his stance on that dispute, he would garner much more mileage and possibly lead to a real breakthrough," said Porter.

However, Alimi warns that whatever Washington wants to see develop over the coming weeks, conditions still exist for an outbreak of violence to destroy the chances for peace.