But the bright cast officials gave the results was not universally endorsed, with analysts and critics of the process noting two dark spots: Israel's unaltered clampdown on Palestinian movement and economic activity, and the conundrum of the control of Gaza by Hamas, the militant Islamist Palestinian party.

In a recent report, the World Bank said the moribund Palestinian economy would continue to shrink, even with large international assistance, if Israel's restrictions on the movement of Palestinian goods and people remained in place. With eased restrictions, the Bank said the economy could quickly rebound to substantial growth.

The other dark cloud over the peace process is Hamas, and the doubts raised by the deep divisions among Palestinians between the Fatah organization of Abbas and the Islamist group controlling Gaza.

In Gaza, Hamas issued a statement saying, "The Paris conference is coating poison with honey and is a dangerous conspiracy."

Those words reflected the organization's fears that the assistance to Abbas further divides Palestinians. But part of the international donations will go toward paying the salaries of Palestinian public servants, including in Gaza, and so could eventually drain political support away from the group, which won parliamentary elections last year.

Although repeatedly asked, neither Palestinian leaders nor other officials could say exactly how Israeli-Palestinian negotiations – whether on immediate security and freedom-of-movement concerns, or on final-status issues – can get very far with the Palestinians so divided and Hamas in control of Gaza.

Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad minimized the impact on the peace talks, saying, "It is not factions that negotiate on the behalf of the Palestinian people, it is the Palestinian Liberation Organization."

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