That offers some hope that it will be more active than in the past, not brushing away the problems just because they are inflammatory within its own borders.
Israel has made, as a condition of a ceasefire, the sealing of the tunnels under the southern border that Hamas has used to ferry in weapons, explosives and money.
Tony Blair gave that position his support yesterday, in saying that cutting off the supply through the tunnels was “the one basis on which you can bring a quick halt to this”.
He added, in his role as envoy for the Middle East quartet - the US, European Union, United Nations and Russia - that agreement on the tunnels would represent a “significant advance in terms of Israel's security;
The deaths yesterday in a UN school where civilians had taken refuge boosted international pressure that is, rightly, calling for an immediate halt to the attacks.
Given that Israeli forces appeared to have severed and destroyed the tunnels at the moment, Israel is on weaker ground than it claims in using this as a reason for persisting.
Now that diplomatic efforts are finally taking form, a week and a half into Israel's military action, Blair is right to put pressure on Egypt to say what it is prepared to do.
Its best response will be to pull in other Arab governments, beginning with Syria.
最善の対応は、シリアをはじめとする他のアラブ国家の政府を巻き込むことであろう。
There are plenty of reasons to be gloomy about the Middle East at the start of Barack Obama's presidency.
バラックオバマ氏の任期がはじまるにあたって、中東については悲観的になる理由に事欠かない。
One reason to be hopeful is Syria's apparently greater willingness to work for some definition of regional stability that resembles that of the US and Europe. 明るい見通しをもてる要因としては、シリアが地域の安定をどう定義するかという問題についてアメリカやEUと共通する内容でより積極的に動こうとしているのが見て取れることである。
You can add to that growing Arab fears of Iranian regional power,
そこに当地域におけるイランに対してアラブ諸国が恐怖を募らせていること、
and an acknowledgement (even if faint, so far), that a breakthrough of the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock will demand that they play a more active part than they have yet done. そして今のところはわずかであるがイスラエル・パレスチナ間の暗礁状態打開にはこれまでよりも更に積極的な行動をとることが必要であることを認めつつあること