Palestinian Factions OK Israel Truce Proposal

Twelve Palestinian militant groups have agreed to a proposal for a truce with Israel, already backed by Hamas and Fatah. Egypt, mediating talks, will now try to sell the plan to Israel, AFP reports. The proposal calls for a "comprehensive, simultaneous, and reciprocal period of calm to be applied progressively, first in Gaza and then in the West Bank."

Islamic Jihad, the group responsible for most of the rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza, says it accepts, but will not sign any agreement if it applies only to the Gaza Strip and not the West Bank. "We reject the principle of a calming in Gaza; we are against a political division between Gaza and the West Bank," says a spokesman. (More Arab Israeli conflict stories.)