Three key Palestinian groups, including the Islamic militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, agreed yesterday to halt attacks on Israel for three months, a senior official of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction said.

　　The official, Kadoura Fares, speaking on behalf of Fatah, said a formal statement about the cease-fire would be made later. Fatah also signed the agreement.

　　According to another Palestinian official, the document outlining the truce terms was signed in Damascus, Syria, by top Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shalah.

　　It came after lengthy negotiations between the militant groups and Marwan Barghouti, a leading Palestinian figure in Fatah who is jailed in Israel.

　　Barghouti signed the agreement on behalf of Fatah, which is headed by Arafat and Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, the source said.

　　Another militant group, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, is associated with Fatah.

　　Word of the accord came as Palestinian officials said Israeli helicopters fired rockets at two cars in the Gaza Strip, causing an explosion.

　　The cease-fire was a key element for implementing a US-backed "road map" peace plan that aims to halt the fighting and create a Palestinian state by 2005.

　　A Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity that accord-ing to the cease-fire document, the militant groups agree to a mora-torium on attacks for three months.

　　In exchange, they demand that Israel end targeted killings of militants and stop military incursions into Palestinian areas, the official said. The groups also call for a release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel - but do not set any deadline for this, the official said.

　　Also yesterday Israeli soldiers shot and killed two Hamas attackers in the Gaza Strip, and police said they foiled plans for a Palestinian bombing.

　　The Islamicsgroupssaid two of its members fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli military vehicle in north-ern Gaza. That set off a firefight in which the two militants were killed.

　　The clash occurred in the area of Beit Hanoun, which Israeli forces have controlled for several weeks in an effort to prevent Palestinians from firing homemade rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot.