Jerusalem: In a significant development towards a possible truce, the Palestinian radical group Hamas said it had reached a decision to suspend attacks against Israel, a key demand by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas even as Israelis and Palestinians reached an agreement on an Israeli troops withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

The spiritual leader of Hamas Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was reported as saying that after studying ''all the development'' the outfit had reached a decision to suspend "fighting operations" against Israelis.

Yassin said the decision was not a formal ceasefire yet and that Hamas was working with other Palestinian factions on a joint statement. Stating that the ceasefire carried conditions and a timeframe, Yassin said ''we are still in contact with the rest of the factions in order to reach a joint formula to be signed by everybody," an apparent reference to groups such as Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, linked to Palestinian Authority Chairman (PAC) Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestine Authority have reached an agreement of Israeli pullback in Gaza Strip. Representatives from both sides would further meet on June 29 to thrash out details of the pullback and the withdrawal could be expected to begin as soon as June 30.

The agreement was reached at a meeting between Palestinian security chief Mohammad Dahlane and General Amos Gilad, co-ordinator of military activities in occupied territories.

The meeting was also attended by US special envoy John Wolf. Israel, however, dismissed the truce talks, and urged Abbas to dismantle the ''terror'' infrastructure of radical Islamic groups responsible for attacks against Israeli citizens.

But Israeli media quoted a senior Israeli government source, as saying any truce signed by the militant group "is not worth the paper it's written on. The Hamas' decision assumes significance in the wake of upcoming visit of U S National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice in the region.

PTI