Egyptian mediators, Muhsim al-Numani, second right, and Mustafa al Beheri, second left in dark suit, assistants to Egyptian intelligence chief

Additional Reporting By Mustafa el-Sawwaf, IOL Correspondent

GAZA CITY, June 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - As Palestinian factions met on Monday, June 16, to discuss a ceasefire with Israel, Hamas promised to consider "carefully and seriously" proposals presented by an Egyptian delegation to break the impasse.

The small group of high-ranking Egyptian officials which arrived in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, June 15, to broker a truce was holding a roundtable with all 13 Palestinian factions following separate talks with the three main groups.

General Mustafa Beheeri and his team met with the mainstream Fatah, but also with Hamas, which has been consistently opposed to any ceasefire deal until Israeli occupation forces cease aggressions on Palestinian areas.

After several hours of consultations at the house of the movement's spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin on Sunday night, the group which only days ago was on the brink of all-out war with Israel responded cautiously but did not reject the proposals.

Senior Hamas leader Abdul Aziz al-Rantissi, who narrowly escaped an Israeli assassination attempt a week ago in Gaza, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Monday that the Egyptian proposals were being considered.

"We need to contact our leaders in the West Bank, in prison and abroad. They should all have a word in the decision," he said.

"This process is not limited to a ceasefire, the Egyptian proposal is much vaster and we need to study it," he stressed.

After meeting with the Egyptian delegation, Hamas issued a statement saying "we will study carefully and seriously the ideas that the Egyptian delegation is suggesting.

In parallel talks, Israeli and Palestinian security officials discussed Sunday possible Israeli troop withdrawals from northern Gaza and the West Bank city of Bethlehem in exchange for a Palestinian pledge to crack down on resistance fighters there.

No agreement was announced.

Encouraging

The simple fact that Hamas did not respond with a flat-out rejection was perceived as an encouraging sign that Egyptian mediation was at least successful in rekindling national dialogue and maybe moving closer to a truce.

Sheikh Yassin told IslamOnline.net on Sunday that his group could consider an all-out truce if the Israeli government offered a parallel initiative.

The Israeli daily Haaretz quoted Palestinian sources as saying Hamas told Egypt it accepted "a cessation of military activity".

However, Hamas declared on Saturday, June 14, that the word "ceasefire" was not in its dictionary, and the Israeli cabinet has reaffirmed its policy of attempting to kill members of Hamas whom it describes as "ticking bombs", including Sheikh Yassin himself.

Less Conciliatory

Seven Israeli helicopter strikes on the Gaza Strip since May 10 have left 27 people dead

Shortly after Beheeri ended his talks with Islamic Jihad on Monday morning, the group was less conciliatory, accepting the principle of factional dialogue but reiterating its opposition to any truce agreement.

"We did not discuss a ceasefire with anyone and we have no intention of broaching the issue so long as the Zionists continue their crimes against our people," senior Islamic Jihad leader Abdullah al-Shami said.

"The main condition to stop resisting is the end of the occupation. We support dialogue and we did not close any doors, but we stressed our people's right to resist occupation," he added.

The Egyptian delegation, whose trip was prepared in Ramallah by Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman last week, was meeting Monday with the National and Islamic Forces.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas is also expected in the Gaza Strip later Monday to iron out the differences which had emerged following his June 4 speech in Aqaba, Jordan, where he vowed to end the “militarization” Intifada against Israeli occupation.

With an Israeli withdrawal from some reoccupied areas being discussed and a U.S. team starting its monitoring of the implementation of the roadmap, Palestinian government officials were optimistic that the ongoing talks would bear fruit.

On the ground, three Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah on Sunday, Palestinian medical sources said, adding that one of them was in critical condition.

Also on Sunday, Israeli troops were razing agricultural land just outside the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah in an area close to the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom, according to Palestinian security sources.

Eight-year old Amal al-Jaroshah also died from wounds suffered in an Israeli helicopter air strike last week on Gaza.

Seven Israeli helicopter strikes on the Gaza Strip since May 10 have left 27 people dead, including several civilians as well as six members of Hamas, which has carried out scores of anti-Israeli attacks, the latest being an attack on a Jerusalem bus that killed 17 people on Wednesday.

'Interesting Idea'

Meanwhile, Britain welcomed a suggestion from Paris for a peacekeeping force to stop the bloodshed in the Middle East as an "interesting idea" but cautioned that the proposal would have to win the backing of both sides in the conflict.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin proposed on Sunday that the international community should study sending such a force, one day ahead of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

"It is an interesting idea and we presume the French will bring their proposal to the meeting of E.U. foreign ministers tomorrow," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said late on Sunday.

Leading Republican lawmaker Richard Lugar said on Sunday that Washington might send forces to help stop the Palestinian groups’ attacks against close-ally Israel.

Israel has already rejected a proposal by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to deploy a peacekeeping force in the region, saying that there is no need for any intervention by a foreign power.