(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-10 20:42

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has instructed the army to halt airstrikes and raids into the Gaza Strip in response to a serious drop in rocket fire from the territory, officials said Monday.

Israeli forces take position during confrontations with Palestinian stone throwers in the occupied West Bank town of Hebron on March 3. The Israeli army on Monday lifted the blockade of the occupied West Bank that was imposed after a Palestinian attack at a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem that killed eight teens. [Agencies]

Israeli defense officials and the Hamas rulers of Gaza said there was no formal truce in place. But the officials in Olmert's office said the prime minister had ordered the army to scale back its operations to allow Egypt to proceed in mediation talks. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks.

Heavy violence in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel has hampered US-backed peace talks between Israel and the moderate Palestinian leadership of the West Bank. Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have set a December target for reaching a final peace deal.

Olmert told an audience Monday that the fighting in Gaza, along with a shooting that killed eight young Jewish students at a Jerusalem seminary last week, are aimed at undermining the peace efforts.

"Their purpose is to divert us from a path of peace," Olmert said. "There's no chance that they will succeed."

Despite the violence, he added, Israel is prepared to take a "significant, important and dramatic step" to advance peace. "We will not give up on this effort," he said.

Abbas briefly called off negotiations last week in response to an Israeli military operation in Gaza in which more than 120 Palestinians were killed, including dozens of civilians, according to Palestinian medical officials. The offensive was launched in response to intense Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel.

With US backing, Egypt has been trying to mediate a truce between Israel and Hamas. Officials from the warring sides have both traveled to Egypt in recent days to discuss the matter.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Monday that no comprehensive cease-fire had been reached. But Hamas officials have said in recent days that Hamas will stop the fire if Israel halts its military operations -- mirroring a remark by Olmert Wednesday that Israel has no reason to attack Gaza if the rocket launchings cease.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said there was no truce and suggested the current calm was fragile.

"There is not at this point any agreement," Barak said. "We won't complain about every quiet day but any moment we will need to act, we will."

Hamas officials said their leaders would talk to Egypt in the next day or two to continue the efforts to work out a deal. However, an informal truce already appeared to be in effect.

The Israeli army said it has not carried out airstrikes or land operations in Gaza since last Wednesday. Rocket fire fell significantly over the weekend. The army said two rockets were fired Sunday, down from a daily average of more than a dozen the previous week.

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