Israeli forces swept through Hebron early Tuesday and arrested more than 150 Palestinians in a roundup targeting the West Bank city's Hamas network, the army said. The arrests came just days after Israeli troops shot and killed Abdullah Kawasme, the Hamas group's leader in Hebron. Palestinian residents said troops rounded up people with any Hamas connections, including relatives of Hamas members. Elsewhere in the West Bank, troops arrested at least 30 Palestinians. **Hamas Nearing Truce Deal*** Hamas and other Palestinian groups were on the verge of agreeing to halt attacks on Israelis, Palestinian officials said Monday, while Israel warned it may not accept what it considers a tactical cease-fire meant to give the militias time to regroup for more violence. An agreement by Palestinian groups to suspend their armed uprising could be a major breakthrough and a way out. However, Israeli officials remained deeply suspicious, saying a truce is just a ploy by militants to win time to prepare for more shootings and bombings. The terms of the emerging deal between Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and the militias were not clear. One Palestinian mediator said the truce will be open-ended and apply not only to Israel, but also the West Bank and Gaza Strip - a key condition for Israel. However, a leader of one of the armed groups said on condition of anonymity that Hamas will only accept a three-month truce. Leaders of the smaller Islamic Jihad group are trying to persuade activists to accept a limited deal, but are facing stiff opposition, he said. Palestinian officials, including Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath and Cabinet Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, were optimistic, saying they expect a positive response by the militias. A Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, said the announcement would not come Monday - contradicting assessments by Palestinian officials - but said that "the decision will hopefully come very soon." A Palestinian uprising leader, Marwan Barghouti, has also lent his prestige to the talks, writing cease-fire proposals from his Israeli prison cell and forwarding them to Khaled Mashal, a Hamas leader based in Syria, according to a source close to the negotiations. Barghouti's final draft was delivered to Mashal this week, and the Hamas leader has promised to give his response to the Egyptian government quickly, according to the source. The document says the militias are willing to give Abbas a chance to negotiate an agreement with Israel. Palestinian security minister Mohammed Dahlan told Israel TV's Channel 10 that the agreement would call for a halt to attacks against Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza as well as Israel. However, Israeli officials said a Hamas-Abbas understanding might not necessarily be acceptable to them, noting that under the peace plan, the Palestinian Authority must disarm militias, not court them. At best, Israel would accept an internal Palestinian arrangement as a brief precursor to a crackdown, officials said. Also Monday, Israeli and Palestinian security officials held more talks on the terms of an Israeli troop pullback in Gaza. The peace plan requires Israel to gradually withdraw to positions held before the outbreak of fighting as the Palestinians disarm the militias. Once Israeli troops pull back, Palestinian security forces are expected to take over and prevent attacks on Israelis from those areas they reoccupy. Palestinian officials have said they don't want to assume security responsibility until they've reached a truce deal with Hamas. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Israeli soldiers arrest a Palestinian man in the flashpoint West Bank town of Hebron. (AFP/Hossam Abu Alan)