MIDDLE EAST: Another ceasefire, this time an open-ended, mutual cessation of hostilities, was floated yesterday by officials close to Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat.
However, it was unceremoniously dismissed shortly afterwards by Israeli officials as a "deception".
Mr Jibril Rajoub, the national security adviser to Mr Arafat, proposed both "a general ceasefire" and a return to the negotiating table.
The ceasefire would not be temporary, like the unilateral three-month truce declared by militant groups on June 29th, which fell apart last month, and the Palestinian Authority would "implement" it, said Mr Rajoub.
However, Israel, he added, which did not view itself a party to that truce, would have to halt the assassinations and arrests of militants, lift blockades on Palestinian areas and stop all building of settlements as well as the construction of the West Bank fence.
Speaking in Hebrew on state-owned Israel Radio, Mr Rajoub said that once the ceasefire was in place, the sides could resume talks aimed at ending the conflict.
"It's a matter of time. If not today, then tomorrow, if not in a year, then in two years, we'll still make the same package deal - two states for two peoples."
Israeli officials were dismissive.
Some said a ceasefire could not be a substitute for a crackdown by the Palestinian Authority on militant groups like Hamas.
Others suggested the Palestinian revival of the ceasefire idea was an attempt by Mr Arafat to ensure his survival, via a new diplomatic initiative.
Last week, following two suicide bombings, Israel's security cabinet voted to "remove" the Palestinian leader.
"Allow me not to trust Mr Arafat after ten years of experience," said Mr Ra'anan Gissin, a senior adviser to the Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon.
"What has he given us? Not the peace of the brave, but the peace of the grave."
Meanwhile, Israeli troops yesterday shot dead a senior Islamic Jihad militant, who they were trying to arrest, after surrounding a house in a village near Hebron where he was staying.