Sides within Islamic Hamas movement, mainly from its military wing, may thwart recent chances of ending internal Palestinian split, President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party warned Thursday, Xinhua reported.
"Some militias in Hamas may obstruct the reconciliation agreement because it doesn't satisfy them," said Amin Maqboul, a Fatah official, citing information that Fatah had received about the mood in Hamas.
On Wednesday, representatives of Hamas and Fatah, the two rival Palestinian factions, announced in Cairo an initial agreement that would end political split between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the West Bank, where Fatah-led Palestinian National Authority holds sway.
The agreement envisions the formation of a united, technocratic government to prepare for presidency and parliamentary elections within a year after the final pact is signed.
The split widened in 2007 when Hamas, which won the parliamentary elections a year earlier, routed pro-Abbas forces and took over Gaza after a week of street battles.
Maqboul said that changes in the Arab world, especially with the ongoing upheaval in Syria, where Hamas's exiled leadership is based, have helped reaching the agreement under the sponsorship of the new Egyptian government.
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