Israeli troops who entered the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus killed a Palestinian, Israeli security sources said on Tuesday. According to Israeli reports the man was armed. Hamas is prepared to respect a truce if Israel stops its "aggression" against the Palestinians and if the deal is backed by international guarantees, a leader of the Movement was quoted as saying on Tuesday. The pan-Arab daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat said Mussa Abu Marzuq had informed Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman that Hamas is "ready for a total ceasefire if Israel publicly commits itself to stopping every kind of aggression against the Palestinian people." Marzuq, on a visit to Cairo, said it is "important that Israel be a partner" in a ceasefire agreement, noting that a unilateral truce is worthless. According to Hamas, Israeli "aggression" includes "assassination operations, incursions and house demolitions," said Marzuk. On late Sunday, Hamas' spokesman Dr. Abdul Aziz al Rantisi reiterated its willingness to reach a ceasefire with Israel if and when the Israeli occupation army stops targeting Palestinian civilians. He told reporters in Gaza the movement was willing to halt attacks on Israeli civilians if Israeli troops stopped attacks on Palestinian civilians. However, Rantisi said Hamas would continue to fight the Israeli occupation army and Jewish settlers. "We have an inherent moral and legal right to resist the occupation. Israel will not grant us our freedom free of charge. We have to struggle and prove to them that the occupation is costly." **Israel Imposes Further Restrictions on Journalists*** The Israeli authorities have decided to impose further restrictions on non-Jewish journalists operating in Palestine. The Israeli government press office has announced that from now on, foreign journalists operating in Palestine will have to be scrutinized by the Shin Beth, Israel's domestic intelligence service. "It means that journalists won't be able to cover certain events unless they received a security clearance from the Shin Beth," said Daniel Seaman, head of the Government Press Office in West al-Quds. He stated that a list of more than 17,000 accredited journalists will be submitted to the Shin Bet for security checks beginning Jan. 1. who will decide then which journalist is accredited. Up until now, only Palestinian journalists were checked by the Shin Bet, but under this new policy even foreign journalists will also have to go through a security check, albeit not as thorough as that given to Palestinians. In fact, the press office stopped issuing journalism credentials to most Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza - many of whom work for foreign press agencies - shortly after Israeli-Palestinian fighting erupted three years ago, citing "security reasons." The announcement was condemned by foreign media organizations. The Foreign Press Association, an organization based in London, labeled the measure an "utter violation of freedom of the press." "This means the Israeli authorities will be given unreasonable veto power to decide who cans serve as a foreign correspondent." The Associated Press reported that Mordechai Kremnitzer, a professor who heads the Israel Press Council, a group that oversees the Israeli media, told Israel TV that news organizations should ignore the government's credentials and issue their own instead. In addition, the report noted that Yaron Enosh, director of the Israeli Press Association, representing journalists who work for local media, said he fears the new requirements will prevent Israeli Arabs from receiving press credentials. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A Palestinian teenager hurls a stone at an Israeli army tank during clashes in the Balata refugee camp, near the West Bank town of Nablus, November 02, 2003. (REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini)