GAZA CITY, June 29 (IslamOnline.net) - In a long-waited move following weeks of discussions, Islamic resistance movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad Sunday, June 29, declared an immediate suspension of attacks against Israel, but the Jewish state said it will ignore the initiative.

"Islamic Jihad and Hamas call an immediate end to all military activities against the occupation for three months as of today," read the joint statement a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net.

The statement said the commitment to this one-sided truce is conditioned on three steps that should be taken by the Israeli government.

"There should be an immediate end to all forms of aggressions against Palestinians, including house demolitions, land razzings, assassinations, detentions and deportations," it said.

The two groups also hinged their initiative on "setting free all of the detainees in Israeli jails, and halting any tampering with Islamic and Christian sacred places in general and Haram al-Shariff in particular,".

"But If Israel did not respond to these conditions, we consider ourselves non-committed to this initiative and hold Israel responsible for consequences," said the statement.

The move comes as Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement said it will announce a truce separately later Sunday, amid reports of seeking to extend the suspension of attacks to six months.

"Fatah will announce a truce tonight in conjunction with several factions of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization)," an official of the group told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on condition of anonymity.

In the first Israeli response to the one-sided truce, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman said that that the Jewish state will ignore the truce announced by the two Palestinian groups, as its only interlocutor is the Palestinian Authority.

"We do not give any value to this announcement. Our only interlocutor to obtain the dismantlement of "terrorist" organizations is the Palestinian Authority," Raanan Gissin said.

Meanwhile, Syria, which hosts a number of Palestinian resistance groups, offered its tacit backing to the truce.

"Syria supports any true peace and blesses any agreement among the Palestinians which bolsters their unity," Foreign Minister Faruq Al-Shara said at a press conference here alongside his Irish counterpart Brian Cowen.

The truce initiative coincides with Palestinian Premier Mahmud Abbas' efforts to revive peace negotiations with Israel under the aegis of the "roadmap."

Although Hamas and Islamic Jihad committed themselves to Abbas' program, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), also with leadership based in Damascus, has denounced the idea of laying down arms.

Syria has played a cat-and-mouse game with Washington over its backing for anti-Israeli groups since the springtime war on Iraq set up a U.S. occupation next door.