CAIRO — Two former militant groups offered to call off street protests if the government agrees to ease its pressure on Islamists, a move that underscores how a onetime strong Islamist movement is now bowing to an unprecedented crackdown by security authorities.

The proposal comes after the military rounded up hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood leaders and other Islamists in the wake of the country’s worst bout of violence, which followed the Aug. 14 clearing of two sit-in camps housing protesters calling for the reinstatement of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected leader.

Trial opened for the Brotherhood’s supreme leader Mohammed Badie and two other senior officials Sunday on charges of inciting the murder of anti-Morsi protesters on June 30, the anniversary of his inauguration when millions took to the street to call on him to step down.

The first day of their trial coincided with the retrial of ex-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011, over similar charges.

Critics say the truce proposal reflects cracks within the Islamist alliance led by the Brotherhood, with much of its leadership either imprisoned or on the run.

“They want to lift pressure on their groups and jump off the Muslim Brotherhood boat that is sinking right now,” said veteran journalist and analyst Makram Mohammed Ahmed. “Everyone is searching for a way out but this is too late.”

Morsi supporters previously have insisted on the reversal of three moves by the military — Morsi’s return to power, the lifting of the suspension of the Islamist-drafted constitution and the restoration of the only legislative council under Morsi — as three preconditions to talks.

However, Islamic Jihad leader Mohammed Abu Samra said the proposed truce has no “red lines.”

“We are paving the way for talks,” Abu Samra said. “We can’t hold talks while we are at the points of swords in the midst of killings and crackdowns.” He said the groups were “extending their hands” to avoid a bloodier confrontation with the military, which he accuses of “defaming” the Brotherhood in the media and mosques.

Asked about Morsi’s return to power, he said, “blood is more treasured than seats of power … we are no long upholding return of the constitutional legitimacy.”