RAMALLAH, West Bank ? Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat offered a new truce to Israel on Wednesday, after Palestinian officials said the militant group Hamas had signaled it might agree to stop attacking Israelis.

Interviewed on Israel TV’s Channel 2, Arafat was asked if there was a possibility for a cease-fire. “Of course,” he said. “You’re invited. The announcement was made yesterday,” referring to remarks by his security adviser, Jibril Rajoub.

In an earlier interview on Israel’s Channel 10, Arafat said contacts were under way with all Palestinian factions over a cease-fire. “There are continuous contacts with various parties. Yesterday, I had a meeting with all the PLO factions,” Arafat said. “Even the Islamic Jihad said they are willing to respect a cease-fire, and we are continuing our contacts with Hamas inside and outside.”

There was no immediate comment from Israeli leaders, but the government said Tuesday it wanted to see the Palestinian Authority begin disarming Hamas and other militant groups before it would consider a new truce.

Early today, Israeli forces invaded a refugee camp in central Gaza and killed a local leader of the Islamic Jihad group, Palestinians and Israeli military sources said.

Palestinians said helicopters fired two missiles at the house of Jihad Abu Shwairah, 34, killing him. Israel said it was seeking militants.

Distrust on both sides remains deep after three years of conflict and the failure of a unilateral truce declared by militants in June — which largely held until a Hamas suicide bombing killed 23 people in Jerusalem last month.

Tensions heightened after an open-ended Israeli government decision last week to “remove” Arafat, whom it accuses of fomenting terrorism. The United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution Tuesday that sought to shield Arafat from Israeli action.

Before his TV appearance, Arafat dismissed the veto as insignificant. “No decision here or there will shake us,” he told supporters at his West Bank headquarters. “We are bigger than all decisions.”

Despite the angry words, there were signs of new efforts to quell violence that has killed 2,468 people on the Palestinian side and 858 on the Israeli side in three years.

Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qureia said once he forms a new government, he will “call on the Israelis to agree to a mutual cease-fire” to clear the way for reopening negotiations.

A guard of Yasser Arafat walks past two children holding a portrait of their leader at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Wrecked cars seen in the background were destroyed during the 2002 Israeli incursion. Arafat made a new offer of truce to Israel on Wednesday.