Palestinian militants have accepted a proposal to halt attacks on Israelis for three months, a senior militia official said today.
A formal truce announcement is to be made on Sunday, according to officialsclose to the talks.
The militia official said the "trilateral document is now ready," referring to the agreement that asks armed groups to halt attacks on Israelis for three months and demands that Israel stop all military strikes against Palestinians.
The agreement was negotiated by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.
The Palestinian militant groupHamas said today it had decided to suspend attacks onIsraelis, a move that could give a significant boost to aUS-backed "road map" to peace battered by violence.
"Hamas has studied all the developments and has reached adecision to call a truce, or a suspension of fightingactivities," Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin told reporters.
He said the ceasefire carried conditions and a timeframe butdeclined to give details or indicate when a truce would beannounced.
"We are still in contact with the rest of the factions inorder to reach a joint formula to be signed by everybody,"Yassin said, referring to militant groups such as Islamic Jihadand the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of the mainstream Fatahmovement.
Israel killed three Palestinian militants and a civilian bystander today in another attack on the Hamas.
An Israeli soldier was also killed in a battle triggered bythe Gaza Strip raid, which Israeli military sources said as a bid to capture Islamist militants preparing "a major terrorist attack" on nearby Jewish settlers within hours.
The Israeli government's campaign toround up or kill suspected militants it identifies as "ticking bombs" has damaged attempts by the new reformist Palestinian leadership to coax radical factions into a ceasefire, most analysts say.
But Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Silvan Shalom said an accordunder which Israel would pull back forces from Gaza in returnfor a crackdown on militants by the Palestinians' new reformistauthorities "may be close".
Fresh talks resumed today.Israeli security sources said that under a crystallisingdeal Palestinian authorities had committed to reining inmilitants, halting arms smuggling and stopping incitement toviolence in schools and media.
"In all areas where Palestinians take (such) responsibility,Israel will not operate there," said one source, referring toarmy raids, round-ups and killings of wanted men that militantshave angrily cited in hesitating to declare a truce.
Palestinian officials earlier reported "remarkable progress"in the last round of talks late last night between PalestinianSecurity Minister Mr Mohammed Dahlan and Major General Amos Gilad,Israel's coordinator in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
They had no immediate comment on the Israeli account of thedetails. Palestinian authorities previously rejected US callsto crush the militants, arguing civil war could result.