Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Korei, asked by President Yasser Arafat to form a permanent government by next week, says militant groups have agreed to resume talks on ending attacks on Israelis.
"I have made an offer to all Palestinian groups, those within the Palestine Liberation Organisation, as well as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group, for talks over a ceasefire. They welcomed it," he said.
US President George W. Bush stepped up pressure for fresh Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, saying progress would be hard until the Palestinians reined in militants and repeating criticism of Israel's building of a West Bank security barrier.
Mr Korei has been locked in a stalemate with Mr Arafat over control of Palestinian security forces - key to the success of a stalled US-backed peace "road map" that demands a crackdown on militants who have waged gun and suicide bomb attacks on Israelis in a three-year uprising for statehood.
Palestinian officials said Mr Korei wanted to resolve the dispute over security powers before accepting Mr Arafat's request to form a permanent government.
A Hamas official confirmed the truce talks offer.
Mr Korei said no date had been set for talks to begin, leaving little time to achieve results unless he accepts Mr Arafat's request as the 30-day term of a Palestinian emergency cabinet expires on November 4th.
He suggested earlier this month he would quit as prime minister unless he and Mr Arafat could agree on cabinet posts.