Several Palestinian factions Sunday denied reaching a deal with Islamic Hamas movement to suspend rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip.

"There is no unanimous decision to stop the resistance," said Kayed al-Ghoul, a senior leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), told Xinhua.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, "proposed the halting of the rockets, but we, the PFLP, did not give our response," al-Ghoul added.

"The Palestinian people are under occupation, and resistance should be conducted anytime and everywhere," he added.

On Saturday, Interior Minister of deposed Hamas government Fathi Hammad told reporters that an agreement was reached with the Palestinian factions to halt rocket-fire to avoid a possible Israeli military reaction.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine(DFLP) and the Islamic Jihad movement have also denied accepting to halt rocket attacks on southern Israel communities.

"It is unacceptable for one side (Hamas) to define the mechanism and the means of resistance," said Talal Abu Zarifa, a DFLP leader. He added that his party "is not committed in that deal at all."

Khaled al-Batsh, an Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza, said his movement "will not lay down weapons as long as (Israel) continues its occupation and escalation."

Early Sunday, Israeli aircrafts bombed metal workshops and smuggling tunnels in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Batsh referred to the Israeli airstrikes, which came after Hammad announced that an agreement to halt the rockets was reached, to justify his movement's rejection to deal.

He added that "we should not stop the resistance in exchange for saving our heads" from possible Israeli assassination.

(Xinhua News Agency November 23, 2009)