Hamas Says Deal Reached in Palestinian Reconciliation

Details of the agreement have not yet been released and a news conference was being planned for Thursday at 10:00 GMT in the Egyptian capital, where talks have been taking place since Tuesday.

"An agreement was reached today between Hamas and Fatah under Egyptian sponsorship," a statement from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's office said, without giving further details, AFP reported.

A party to the negotiations speaking on condition of anonymity said the agreement would see forces of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by Fatah, take control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

He added that all Palestinian factions would begin wider negotiations on the formation of a national unity government in the coming two weeks.

Fayez Abu Eita, a spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Movement and member of its delegation in Cairo, said details would be announced at the news conference.

The two sides had been meeting in the Egyptian capital this week with the aim of ending a crippling decadeold split between the two sides.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Palestinians against "bogus reconciliations,” and reiterated Tel Aviv’s demand for the disbandment of Hamas’s military arm.

In an apparent attempt to influence the Cairo-brokered talks, an Israeli delegation landed in Cairo to meet with Egyptian officials. The delegation landed in a private plane in Cairo’s International Airport for a number of hours to meet with the officials, reports said.