A leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said on Sunday evening that Fatah movement led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has accepted an Egyptian initiative with the aim of ending infighting with the ruling Hamas movement.

Kayed al-Ghoul, who is also a member of the higher committee of Palestinian factions, disclosed that his movement and the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) have drawn up the new plan along with the Egyptian security team.

"We are waiting to hear Hamas reaction to the plan," al-Ghoul said.

Meanwhile, Khader Habib, a local leader of the Islamic Jihad, told Xinhua that Hamas was also likely to accept the Egyptian proposal.

The five-article plan calls on the conflicting factions to withdraw their militants from streets immediately in a bid to end infighting and form a committee to investigate latest killings.

The plan also urged all factions to trade hostage held by both sides and return to the national dialogue which was stalled due to factional violence.

However, in spite of the new initiative, factional infighting continued in the Gaza Strip, where a member of Hamas-led Auxiliary Forces was killed in southern Gaza city of Khan Younis this evening, bringing the death toll from the factional clashes since Thursday to 24.

Also in Khan Younis, security sources said that a commander of Hamas' armed wing was kidnapped by Fatah gunmen regardless of Fatah's approval to the Egyptian initiative.

Meanwhile, it was reported that Hamas, Fatah and the Palestinian government have all expressed welcome to an offer by Saudi Arabia to host talks among fighting rivals under sponsorship of the Saudi authorities.

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2007)