Palestinian militant groups offered Israel to stop firing rockets into the Jewish state this evening, in exchange for a cessation of all attacks on the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
Islamic Jihad leader Khader Habib said the main Palestinian factions including the governing Hamas group, the rival Fatah of President Mahmoud Abbas and other smaller groups reached the understanding while meeting Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
Earlier, Israeli forces killed at least six Palestinians, including a top militant commander, in raids in the northern Gaza Strip.
An Israeli air strike on a car killed three militants from the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), including Fayeq Abu Al-Qumsan, who was the militant group's commander for northern Gaza , residents said.
The PRC has been behind many of the recent rocket attacks against Israeli border towns.
Palestinian fighters also fought periodic gunbattles with Israeli soldiers, witnesses said. Hospital officials said a 20-year-old male civilian was shot dead by Israeli troops east of the town of Beit Lahiya.
Residents said troops backed by tanks earlier thrust into Beit Lahiya. Tanks firing machineguns stormed a housing project, killing a 19-year-old male civilian, hospital officials said.
Israel said troops were operating in suburbs around Beit Lahiya, but denied forces were in densely populated areas.
Two Israeli soldiers were also wounded by anti-tank missiles, the army said.
A 57-year-old mother of nine tried to blow herself up near soldiers.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said soldiers spotted the woman approaching them with an explosive device near the Jabalya refugee camp and threw a grenade at her, detonating the device. Three soldiers were slightly wounded. The woman was killed.
The armed wing of the governing Hamas movement claimed responsibility for the attempted suicide bombing and identified the woman as Fatima al-Nejar. One of her sons said she had nine children.
Israel has killed more than 370 Palestinians in Gaza , about half of them civilians, since it began the offensive, hospital officials and residents say. Three soldiers have been killed.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh met President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah in Gaza , a sign that unity government negotiations were back on track.
Hamas sources described the meeting as "positive" but did not elaborate. A senior Fatah official declined to comment on the meeting but said the two men would hold more discussions on Thursday evening to try to bridge differences.
The talks, aimed at lifting Western sanctions on the Hamas government, had been suspended on Monday partly because of disputes over distribution of cabinet seats.