Eleven small Palestinian resistance factions agreed on Wednesday to observe a six-month ceasefire in Gaza if Israel halts all military operations involving the Strip, the siege is lifted and the ceasefire be extended to the West Bank at some time in the future.

The factions taking part in talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman include the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees, and the Popular Front-General Command. Hamas, the movement ruling Gaza which has proposed the ceasefire, agreed last week to these terms in talks with Suleiman.

But Israel dismissed the mediation effort as “not serious” and said that Hamas would rearm if Israel halts its attacks on Gaza.

Egyptian spokesmen said that the ball is now firmly in Israel’s court. Suleiman is expected in Tel Aviv in coming days to discuss the package with senior Israeli military officers and, perhaps, Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who has, so far, adopted a negative line toward a ceasefire. But Israel and most citizens could welcome a period of quiet ahead of the state’s celebrations of the 60th anniversary of its establishment which begin on May 8.