Moscow - The Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the leader of Islamic organisation Hamas has said his group was prepared to stop attacks against Israel if the Jewish state lifted its blockade of Gaza.

The ministry said that Khaled Meshaal, in telephone talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, "voiced readiness to cease armed confrontation, but on condition of the lifting of the blockade of Gaza."

In the telephone talk, Meshaal also expressed Hamas' desire to restart a dialogue between rival Palestinian groups, it said.

Lavrov and his US counterpart, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, had spoken earlier this week in an effort to push both sides in the conflict in Gaza toward a ceasefire. (dpa)