About 3,000 Palestinian security forces took up positions along the northern Gaza Strip on Friday to prevent militant attacks on Israel, a second large-scale deployment in Gaza since the summer of 2003.

In Friday's deployment, security forces began checking vehicles driving close to Israeli army positions. In the town of Beit Lahiya, a source of rocket fire on Israel, five dozen security personnel, wearing red berets, were on patrol in new pickup trucks.

Palestinian security officials said security forces would also be deployed in the southern half of Gaza over the weekend.

Meanwhile, militants have not fired rockets since Wednesday, and the militant group Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said it was suspending attacks on Israel.

In another sign that a cease-fire deal could be imminent, reports said that Egypt would likely host a high-level meeting in Cairo in the coming days to finalize an agreement between newly-elected Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas.

Abbas, under mounting pressure to fulfill his election promises to rein in militant attacks, hoped that he could persuade the militants into halting violence instead of cracking down on them as was demanded by Israel.

A lull in four years of fighting has rekindled hopes that the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks would be revived.

However, the situation remains volatile.

Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim said Friday that Israel will retaliate should militant attacks continue despite the deployment of Palestinian security forces.

"Our forces in the Gaza Strip are on a state of alert, they have received orders to resume their activities if the rocket and mortar attacks continue," Boim told public radio.

The Israeli security cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, instructed the Israel Defense Forces to plan for a large-scale operation in Gaza should the Qassam rockets be fired anew on Israeli targets.

Sharon froze all contacts with the Palestinian leadership last week after a Palestinian attack on the Karni crossing between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip killed six Israeli civilians.

In the previous large-scale Palestinian police deployment in Gaza in 2003, Israel accused Palestinian security forces of failing to stop attacks on Israelis and the truce unraveled less than two months later.

While Israeli officials said it is too early to judge on the Palestinian effort, Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the two sides should work together to reach a peace agreement.

"We are making great efforts to carry out our obligation to stop violence against Israelis everywhere," said Erekat. "We urge the Israel side to return to the negotiating table so we can have a declaration of a mutual cessation of violence."

In another development, Sharon sent messages to Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which began Thursday. In his message, Sharon said he hoped that the entire region would be blessed by peace and prosperity.

Also on Friday, the Bush administration said it was taking advantage of a lull in terror attacks to send a high-ranking State Department official for the Middle East to assess chances of serious peacemaking.

The announcement of next week's trip by Assistant Secretary of State William Burns to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Egypt was coupled with a positive US response to the deployment of Palestinian security troops.

"We have always stressed how important it is for the Palestinians to organize themselves to end the violence, and we welcome steps that are being taken in that direction," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Source: Xinhua