A top aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Tuesday proposed a ceasefire with Israel to give the two parties an opportunity to settle their differences.

The proposal was put forth by Arafat's newly appointed militia adviser Jibril Rajoub on Israel Radio, Israel National News reported.

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Israeli officials were quick to dismiss the proposal, saying that ceasefires had failed to end the fighting in the past, and that the government stood by a decision not to agree to a further truce, said the Israeli daily Haaretz.

Officials cited a government statement last week, which said a truce was no substitute for dismantling terrorist organisations.

Rajoub told Israel Radio that unlike the the hudna, or temporary truce declared by Palestinian militant groups earlier this year, the new ceasefire would would be a comprehensive, joint Israeli-Palestinian move to pave the way for peace talks toward a permanent agreement between the sides.

But he did not outline how the Palestinian Authority would reach a new ceasefire deal with Hamas and Islamic Jihad - the two militant groups responsible for most attacks on Israelis in the past three years. Nor did he concede to the US and Israeli demand that the Palestinian Authority crack down on militant groups.

 Israel Radio also quoted unnamed government officials as saying the truce offer was an attempt to bring Arafat back to center-stage and 'rescue' him from the threat of expulsion.

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