Bittersweet release

When Olmert and the Palestinians agreed to a cease fire in the Gaza strip, they meant the Gaza strip and only the Gaza strip.

A Palestinian fighter and a woman have been killed in an Israeli military operation near Jenin in the northern West Bank.

Abdel Razek Nasser, a local leader in the Popular Resistance Committees, died during an exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers in Kabatiyeh.

The woman, a neighbour, was killed as she tried to help, sources said.

Palestinian fighters fired two rockets towards the Gaza Strip following the Israeli operation on Monday.

The cease fire effort is on shaky ground, and yet Olmert is now offering to exchange prisoners and withdraw from significant portions of the West Bank.

With Gilad Shalit's release and his return safe and sound to his family, the Israeli government will be willing to release many Palestinian prisoners, even those who have been sentenced to lengthy terms.

The prisoner exchange, of course, is what Olmert strictly refused to engage when Gilad Shalit was taken prisoner in Gaza. Now, after hundreds dead, the initial deal is finally palatable. This, as they say, is "progress."