GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Palestinian Arab terror groups told an Egyptian envoy yesterday they remained committed to a cease-fire with Israel, a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside an Israeli bus station, Palestinian Arab officials said.

Leaders from the main terror groups – Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades – made the pledge during meetings with the visiting Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman.

The Gaza pullout, which Israel aims to finish in the coming weeks, has raised hopes for a resumption of peace talks. But tensions have remained high in recent weeks, despite the 6-month-old cease-fire.

Prime Minister Sharon said yesterday that not all settlements Israel maintains in the West Bank will remain in place in a final peace accord with the Palestinian Arabs.

Interviewed on Channel 10 television, Mr. Sharon insisted all of the main settlement blocs would remain under Israeli sovereignty, but “not all the settlements of today in Judea and Samaria will remain,” referring to the West Bank by its biblical names.

Sunday’s suicide bombing in Beersheba, which killed the attacker and seriously wounded two security guards, came days after Israeli troops killed five Palestinian Arabs in a West Bank raid and in the wake of two deadly attacks against Arabs by lone Jewish gunmen.

The identity of the bomber remained a mystery yesterday. Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa issued a leaflet in the West Bank city of Hebron identifying the attacker as Aiman Zaakiq, 25, from the nearby village of Beit Omar.

In new violence yesterday, a 15-year-old Palestinian Arab boy was caught at a West Bank roadblock carrying three pipebombs laced with shrapnel. The army said the boy hoped to enter Israel to carry out an attack.