Israel-Syria: Is Something Going On?

Back-channel alert: several things seem to be happening at once on the Israel-Syria front:

• Netanyahu has told the Knesset Syria is now willing to negotiate without preconditions, backing off an earlier insistence that Israel had to first agree to full withdrawal from the Golan;
• Israel has reportedly approved the UNIFIL proposal under which it would withdraw from the northern (indisputably Lebanese) part of the border village of Ghajar, according to Lebanese reports.

Are these unrelated stories? The first cites President Sarkozy as the conveyor of the news; I'd expect the latter to be the work of George Mitchell and his team. But is there a linkage? Is this grounds for optimism? Or a repeat of last week's rumors that Gilad Shalit was on his way home?

Still, it's worth noting the fact that the two stories are appearing at the same time.