The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) on Saturday expressed their readiness for cooperation with new Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in reaching a truce with Israel.

A spokesman of Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an armed wing of the mainstream Fatah movement, says on Saturday that the group is going to halt attacks against Israel if Israel stops its military operations against the Palestinians.

The remarks came shortly after Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an armed wing of the mainstream Fatah movement, said the group was going to halt attacks against Israel if Israel stops its military operations against the Palestinians.

Abbas, elected on Jan. 9 to succeed late Yasser Arafat, on Saturday continued talks with Palestinian political powers and militant groups in an effort to dissuade them from anti-Israeli attacks.

Sources said Abbas met with representatives of the DFLP and the PFLP in Gaza City on Saturday, adding that the meeting that lasted for about one hour and a half was "positive". However, the hardline Islamic Jihad (Holy War) still rejects Abbas' proposal.

On the ground, dozens of Israeli army police and security forcesre deployed on Friday near the borders between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip.

In addition, about 3,000 Palestinian security forces were stationed on Friday across the northern Gaza Strip to curb Palestinian rocket attacks against Israeli targets.Israeli army officials admitted on Saturday that there is an obvious drop of attacks carried out by Palestinian militants against Israel and Jewish settlements, saying the attacks have almost dropped to "zero".

It is still not clear if a ceasefire will be declared by the Palestinian factions soon. But sources said Abbas is determined not to leave Gaza and go back to the West Bank till a ceasefire deal is reached.

Source: Xinhua