Egypt is inviting leaders of Palestinian resistance groups to Cairo next week - six days before Israel's election - to declare an end to attacks against Israeli civilians, Palestinian officials said Thursday. Israeli officials expressed skepticism. A clear truce declaration might influence Israel's Jan. 28 election because Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is running on his 22-month record of escalating military strikes against the Palestinians and a refusal to negotiate. He leads in the polls.

His main rival, the Labor Party's Amram Mitzna, favors immediate resumption of peace talks and significant Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank and Gaza, unilaterally if no agreement is reached.

The document emerging from Cairo is unclear about the extent of a ban on attacks against Israelis. While it might satisfy Palestinians, Israeli officials are saying it's not enough.

Nearly 28 months of Palestinian-Israeli confrontations have been marked by many efforts at a cease-fire, most spearheaded by the United States. For the past year, the international community has all but thrown up its hands in despair as the killing continues.

Egypt has moved into the breach, summoning leaders of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement and the resistance group Hamas for talks in Cairo to work on a pronouncement of an end to attacks on Israeli civilians.

Arafat has spoken out against resistance bombings and other attacks against civilians, but he has left the definition of civilian ambiguous. Most Palestinians consider Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip legitimate targets, because they are living on Palestinian land.

The ambiguity, reflected in the Egyptian initiative, drew renewed Israeli criticism.

"We would have welcomed a real cessation of all types of terrorism and violence, but this seems like all talk but no performance," said Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Sharon.

In Gaza on Thursday, spokesman for the resistance Islamic groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, staked out tough positions before the Cairo talks.


"There is no reason to stop the resistance because the Israeli aggression is continuing every day," said Islamic Jihad official Sheik Nafez Azzam.

Hamas spokesman Ismail Haniyeh agreed. "There is no other alternative before the enemy (Israel) except ending the occupation," he said.

Although Palestinians said the talks in Cairo would be on Jan. 22, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said no date for the next meeting has been set. "We hope the Palestinian factions reach an agreement that supports the efforts moving toward a settlement," he said.

The key element of the Egyptian document is a promise by Palestinian factions to halt attacks on Israeli civilians, according to Palestinian officials who have seen the draft.

The document does not specify whether this also applies to Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, though officials close to the negotiations say Egypt is trying to win at least an informal agreement by the resistance groups to halt all attacks, not only in Israel itself.

The declaration asks Israel to help pave the way for a resumption of negotiations by halting targeted killings of suspected Palestinian activists, arrests and incursions into Palestinian areas. Israel is also asked to release Palestinian prisoners; it now holds more than 5,000.

Arafat and his Fatah movement approved the draft this week, Arafat adviser Nabil Abu Rdeneh said. Arafat, however, indicated Wednesday that disagreements remained with other factions. "There isn't a clear vision yet," he told reporters.

In the Gaza city of Khan Younis, meanwhile, about 1,000 Palestinians marched in support of Iraq, chanting slogans calling for Saddam Hussein to "destroy Tel Aviv and Haifa."

Also Thursday, an Israeli court for helping to plan a resistance bombing at Jerusalem's Sbarro restaurant in August 2001, Israeli media reported, gave two Hamas activists 15 life sentences. Fifteen people, including an American, were killed.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Israeli occupation soldier searches a Palestinian youth after he was detained for breaking the daily curfew in the West Bank town of Hebron Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)