(Associated Press)- Moderate President Mahmoud Abbas and negotiators from the Islamic militant Hamas have reached agreement in principle on forming a Palestinian government of technocrats, but still need to wrap up important details, a Hamas Cabinet minister said Monday.
The platform of the new government would be intentionally vague, especially on the issue of recognizing Israel. It is not clear whether that would be acceptable to the international community, which has called on the Palestinian government to recognize Israel, renounce violence, and accept past agreements with Israel, reports Trend.
Abbas was to head to the Gaza Strip on Monday afternoon for further talks with Hamas, Palestinian officials said, a possible signal that the two sides were nearing agreement on forming a new government.
Under the emerging plan, the Hamas Cabinet and prime minister would step down and be replaced by a team of experts, in hopes that this will end a crippling international aid boycott, imposed when Hamas came to power in March.
However, top Hamas leaders have yet to decide whether to accept the plan, and negotiations have broken down in the past. At one stage, Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas had reached an agreement, but Hamas then withdrew its support, balking at key points in the government platform, including an implicit recognition of Israel.
The new compromise proposal would enable Hamas to appoint eight ministers and Abbas' Fatah would choose four, with the remainder of the portfolios awarded to smaller parties. The new prime minister would be chosen by Hamas, and a key sticking point is over how close he should be to the ruling party.
Abbas has urged Hamas to choose an independent, in order to make the new government more attractive to the international community, Abbas aides have said.
Hamas' supreme decision-making body, the secret Shura Council, is to decide in the coming days whether to accept the proposal. If Hamas accepts, Abbas is to head to Gaza for a meeting with Haniyeh.
Wasfi Khabaha, a Hamas Cabinet minister, told The Associated Press he expected the meeting between Abbas and Haniyeh to take place by Wednesday. "We can say we have reached an agreement with the brothers in Fatah, but there are some points that need to be finalized between the president and the prime minister," he said.
The Quartet of Mideast peacemakers the U.S., the European Union, the United Nations and Russia demands that any Palestinian government recognize Israel and renounce.
The latest round of talks moved ahead despite a weeklong Israeli offensive in northern Gaza border, aimed at halting Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli communities near the coastal strip.
At least 48 Palestinians, most of them militants, have been killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes and shellings since last week. The Israeli offensive has drawn growing international criticism, but Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the military would press on.
On Monday, an airstrike hit a minivan parked in the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern, killing a 15-year-old boy and wounding at least six others, including a 16-year-old boy who was in serious condition, hospital officials said.
A Palestinian security official said the van was empty at the time of the strike and that all those wounded were passers-by. Muhammad Matar, 35, a local resident, said a group of militants had gathered on a street corner near a kindergarten and that the strike was aimed at them. The militants were not wounded, Matar said.
The army said an airstrike in the same area targeted four militants coming to collect launchers used to fire rockets into Israel.
Another Palestinian was killed by an airstrike in northern Gaza on Monday, according to Palestinian security officials. The army had no immediate comment.
