A CEASEFIRE between Israel and militants in Gaza took hold yesterday and, despite Palestinian rocket attacks in the first hours, Israel promised restraint.

The Palestinian governor of Nablus is calling on residents of other towns to ignore a 40-day Israeli army curfew, following two days of defiance that restored a semblance of normal life in his city.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres held unscheduled talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Cairo today after assuring the Egyptian president that his government planned no major assault on the Palestinians.