“As long as there is quiet there is no reason for us to act,” said Mofaz.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, January 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Sunday, January 23, that Palestinian President Mahmmoud Abbas secured a one-month ceasefire with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, an announcement roundly denied by both groups.

“As far as we understand, there is an agreement between (Abbas) and the heads of Hamas and Islamic Jihad for a ceasefire for a certain period ... about a month,” Reuters quoted Mofaz as telling Israel Radio.

“This agreement was sealed in exchange for the future integration, notably of Hamas, in the Palestinian political institutions,” he added.

Mofaz said Israel had made no promises but that his forces would curtail its activities if there was a halt to Palestinian attacks.

“As long as there is quiet there is no reason for us to act.”

Giora Eiland, the head of Israel’s National Security Council, told Israel Radio Saturday, January 22, that Tel Aviv could halt military attacks and incursions into Palestinian cities if Abbas’ efforts to broker a ceasefire paid off.

Abbas, meanwhile, was meeting with security officials in Gaza City on Sunday before heading back to his offices in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Officials have previously said that he would not leave Gaza until he had a ceasefire agreement in the bag.

The new Palestinian leader has been holding ceasefire talks with different factions in the Gaza Strip in the last few days.

The Guardian newspaper reported Saturday that Abbas proposed a halt to anti-Israel attacks in swap for international guarantees, a political role in the Palestinian government and a commitment to stick to the inalienable Palestinian rights.

Arab countries, particularly Syria and Lebanon, were holding marathon talks with Palestinian resistance groups to broker a unilateral ceasefire, a well-kept Arab diplomatic source told IslamOnline.net on January 15.

“Incorrect”

“At this moment, we have not agreed to a hudna (truce),” said Batsh.

A denial from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad came hard on the heels of Mofaz’s statements.

“Mofaz's statement that we have reached a ceasefire is incorrect,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“Our position is that the Israeli occupation should first commit itself to a ceasefire. After that we have no objections about dealing with this subject positively.”

Abu Zuhri confirmed that the movement had spoken at length with Abbas on Saturday about what he called a “cooling down” period.

“The movement confirmed its readiness to study this issue seriously but there can be no cooling down without a price being paid by Israel.”

Israel had to give “a clear commitment to stop their aggressions against our people,” said the Hamas spokesman, demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The Islamic Jihad, for its part, said it would not agree to any ceasefire without an Israeli agreement to release prisoners and end its raids.

“At this moment, we have not agreed to a hudna (truce). This issue is related to the improvement of the conditions of the Palestinian people and the ball is now in Israel's court,” Khaled Al-Batsh, an Islamic Jihad leader, said in a statement obtained by AFP.

He said any such agreement was conditional on “the release of the prisoners, and an end to the assassinations and incursions.”

A unilateral truce declared by Palestinian resistance factions on June 29, 2003, collapsed after Israeli forces assassinated Ismail Abu Shanab, a Hamas political leader.

Palestinian factions said that by assassinating Abu Shanab Israel killed stone dead the three-month ceasefire.