There was confusion this evening over an offer of a cease-fire purporting to have come from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and two groups affiliated with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah.
A statement released this evening said they would halt attacks within Israel for a week if the Israeli military stopped its strikes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In the past, Israel has said it would talk to the Palestinians in the event of a seven-day lull in violence. However, a Palestinian spokesman later said the announcement was premature and talks on the issue among Palestinians were not yet complete.
The senior source, a member of the al-Aqsa brigades, affiliated to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah said talks along the lines stated in the statement were continuing among all the groups but no agreement had been reached yet.
Earlier, the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as al-Aqsa and another Fatah group said that as of tomorrow they would stop their attacks inside Israel for a week if Israel halted its strikes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The source, who also spoke on behalf of Hamas's military wing, said the statement had been issued by politicians rather than gunmen and no agreement had been reached among the militant groups.
After the initial statement, a senior Israeli security official had dismissed the truce offer and said Israel had no choice but to continue to act in self-defence as long as the Palestinian Authority failed to fight terrorism and make arrests.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have carried out a series of suicide bombings in the past 10 days which have killed 29 people in Israel, not including the bombers themselves. Israel has retaliated with air strikes on Palestinian targets, including Arafat's personal helicopters and security headquarters.