Palestinians wrangled on Wednesday over the terms for extending a halt to attacks on Israel, with militants sticking to their position that a truce must go hand-in-hand with gestures by the Israelis. Israel pulled back from the West Bank town of Jericho, giving Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas an argument in favour of non-violence, but one leftist faction said it was not convinced the Israelis are serious about ending occupation.
At the talks between Palestinian factions in Cairo, now in their second day, the mainstream Fatah group and the militant Islamists also disagreed over how much time to spend talking about power-sharing after any Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Abbas and his Fatah group are trying to persuade militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad that the cease-fire is bringing results, both in practical measures by Israel and in political and economic help from the international community.
A senior official of the leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine said all factions had agreed to a truce till Israel withdraws from Gaza, possibly late this year.
"The factions are very close to reaching an agreement, without agreeing on a time-frame," Mohammed Hourani, a senior Fatah official, told Reuters.
But Abu Emad al-Rifai, a senior official of Islamic Jihad, said it was too early for a common position to emerge.
"There were views put forward, but so far a final position has not crystallised," he told Reuters. A truce depended on commitments by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, he added.
The militants, who are committed to armed struggle, say they refuse to give the Israelis a free gift. A truce must be conditional on Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners and withdrawing from Palestinian areas within a set time, they add.
"Hamas will not accept a truce but will say yes to renewing an ongoing calm. We cannot accept a calm till the end of this year. We can understand a short-term calm for a few months," said a senior Hamas official, who asked not to be named.
The official also said that Hamas was willing to join a reorganised and reformed Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which is now monopolised by secular factions.
At a briefing for Egyptian editors, reported by the state news agency MENA, Hamas leader Khaled Meshal disputed Abbas's position that political action alone can bring results.
But he added: "We fully understand that the Palestinian people need to take a breath and take advantage of the current initiatives, without abandoning basic principles."
Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, has been trying to draw Hamas and Islamic Jihad into the political process, not disarm them by force in a confrontation which could lead to civil war.
Public support for Hamas is on the increase and last week it announced it was ready to take part in parliamentary elections, another step in the movement's gradual evolution.
But a large vote for Hamas would require changes in the structures which have dominated Palestinian politics since the 1960s, when the Palestine Liberation Organisation began.
Delegates to the faction talks outside Cairo said that in the first closed session on Tuesday night, Abu Mazen asked the other leaders to confine the agenda to the truce.
But the Islamist leaders wanted to talk about their role in future political structures, the delegates added.
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