Dubai - A spokesman for the Palestinian Islamist movement told the Arabic television channel al-Arabiya on Thursday that the organization would not enter a ceasefire agreement with Israel amid intense diplomatic efforts to bring the two sides together.

Mohammed Nassal, a member of the Damascus-based Hamas political bureau, told the channel that Hamas would not enter an unlimited ceasefire as Israel has demanded.

"We are ultimately a resistance movement. While Palestinian land is occupied, we have the right to undertake resistance," he said.

A spokesman for the movement in Cairo would not give details on Hamas' response to an Egyptian-sponsored peace initiative late Wednesday night, even as earlier reports said that they had accepted the initiative.

The Damascus-based political bureau is widely seen as being less willing to compromise than Hamas leaders in Gaza.

Israel began a military offensive in the Gaza Strip on December 27 in response to Palestinian rocket-fire from the salient.

The Palestinian death toll stands after 20 days at at least 1,040 dead and some 5,000 injured, along with 13 Israeli dead. (dpa)