U.S. bids to jump-start Mideast peace process
Palestinian legislator: 2 militant groups agree to 'period of calm'
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 Analysts say the chance for peace is best it's been in years.
 New Palestinian leader is under pressure from militants and Israel.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A top State Department official will travel to the Middle East this week in an effort to assist the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the State Department said Monday.
Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Assistant Secretary of State William Burns would visit Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and Egypt.
Burns is in Brussels for meetings with officials from the United Nations, European Union and Russia. Together with the United States, they make up the so-called Mideast Quartet that sponsors the "road map" for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
"The purpose of this visit is to work with all parties to seek to capitalize on the opportunity we have with a new Palestinian government to move forward" on the road map, Ereli said.
Ereli said Burns' discussions with leaders in the region would center on steps to help the Palestinians beef up security in the territories, and seek ideas on what the United States can do to move the peace process forward.
Calling initial moves taken by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas "encouraging," Ereli said the United States was looking for Palestinians to take steps to rein in extremists.
Ereli said talks between Abbas and Palestinian extremist factions on a possible cease-fire were just one step toward an end to violence and terror and establishing the rule of law in Palestinian territory.
At her confirmation hearings last week, Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice said she would take on a strong role in peace efforts.
In the wake of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death in November, "We have reached a moment of opportunity and we must seize it," Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Abbas: 'Bound to reach an agreement'
While no formal cease-fire has been announced, two of the largest Palestinian militant groups -- Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad -- have tentatively agreed to a "period of calm," if Israel does the same, a Palestinian legislator overseeing negotiations said Monday.
Ziad Abu Amar told Voice of Palestine radio: "We are ready to see if Israel is ready to respond to that and then to hold a truce."
Israel has said it would not launch incursions into Gaza so long as no Qassam rockets or mortars are fired from the Palestinian territory at Israel or Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Negotiating with the militants since last week, Abbas sounded hopeful late Sunday.
"In these last few days, there has been a real dialogue with the [militant] organizations," Abbas said. "What I would like to say is that everybody feels a responsibility and feels that there is a necessity to put an end to this situation that we are living in and put an end to the incursions and the attacks and the various things of Israeli aggression.
"From this point, we can say that there has been significant progress in the talks, our differences have diminished and therefore we are bound to reach an agreement very soon."
The use of Palestinian security forces to rein in Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets has long been a key sticking point in the Mideast peace process between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
A week ago, Abbas ordered Palestinian security forces to stop attacks on Israeli targets. By Friday, Abbas had deployed about 2,000 security forces around northern Gaza to stop rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli communities. (Full story)
Abbas has ordered an investigation into an attack that killed six Israeli civilians on January 13 for which Hamas, the Popular Resistance and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility. (Full story)
Hamas' military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, has admitted responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and attacks against the Israeli military. Israel and the U.S. State Department label Hamas a terrorist organization. Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a militant group dedicated to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said during his Cabinet meeting Sunday that "there is quiet" between Israelis and Palestinians.
"We still don't know if there is a real change in the situation. We hope so. We are following the events," Sharon said.
Israeli army radio reported that no Palestinian Qassam rockets or mortar rounds have been fired since Thursday.
Such attacks had precipitated an Israeli crackdown in Gaza last week.
At a news conference Saturday, a masked spokesman for the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades who introduced himself as Abu-Mohammad said his group was ready to consider Abbas' call for a cease-fire "if it is mutual and if Israel also commits to it."
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is a military offshoot of the Fatah movement that has claimed responsibility for attacks on Israeli military and civilian targets. The U.S. State Department designates it a terrorist organization. Abbas has assumed the leadership of Fatah, which had been headed by Arafat until his death.
A splinter group of Al Aqsa calling itself "Aimen Juda Brigades" said it would support Abbas' efforts to reach a cease-fire, but only if Israel would stop all military operations, including targeted killings, and release prisoners.
Two other militant groups, the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) and DFLP (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine), made similar comments.
CNN's Elise Labott contributed to this report.
