JERUSALEM (Reuters)  Israel dismissed a proposal by the Palestinian group Hamas for a six-month truce in the Gaza Strip, saying Friday that the group wanted to prepare for more fighting rather than peace.

The Hamas offer, issued Thursday after talks with Egyptian mediators, proposed a truce during which Israel’s embargo on the territory would be lifted.

The offer departed from previous demands by the group that any cease-fire apply simultaneously in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, the territories where Palestinians want to establish a state.

Hamas said that Egypt would raise the truce idea with Israel next week.

Israel has been reluctant to enter any formal agreement that could shore up the hard-line Islamists of Hamas against the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who is their West Bank-based rival. Mr. Abbas is pursuing peace talks with Israel that are sponsored by the United States.