RAMALLAH, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official announced on Tuesday that reports from Cairo said that progress has been achieved in the talks to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.

    Yasser Abed Rabbo, the Secretary General of the PLO Executive Committee, told reporters that the information coming to President Mahmoud Abbas saying that information come from Cairo said there is a progress in the ceasefire talks.

    Over the past two days, an Islamic Hamas movement delegation has been holding intensive talks with senior Egyptian security officials in a bid to reach a ceasefire agreement with Israel to end the military offensive on the Gaza Strip.

    However, Musa Abu Marzooq, a top Hamas leader in Damascus told Saudi Arabia satellite TV al-Arabeya that Hamas has substantial reservations on an Egyptian initiative to reach a ceasefire between his movement and Israel.

    Egypt has mediated in June last year a six-month truce between Israel and Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. However, the truce ended without being renewed and violence in the area has mounted.

    "Although the talks in Cairo hadn't stopped the bloodshed, we hope that we will receive positive results as soon as possible," said Abed Rabbo.

    He added that "the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is waiting for a response from all involved parties, whether the initiative was accepted or nor "because if it will be rejected, it means that the bloodshed would continue."

    Since Israeli military air and ground operation that was carried out on Dec. 27, more than 945 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,200 wounded.

    "The key to end this war is to accept the Egyptian initiative and go for an urgent Arab Summit to support the Palestinians and implement the related Security Council resolution," said Abed Rabbo.