The Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas group agreed today to halt their clashes even as they headed for a showdown over Abbas's threat to hold a referendum on a statehood proposal.
Mr Abbas has given the Hamas government until the end of the week to accept a manifesto calling for a Palestinian state that implicitly recognises Israel or face a vote on the issue.
Hamas trounced Fatah in January parliamentary elections and has been locked in a power struggle with Abbas ever since.
The president would issue a decree on Saturday setting the stage for the referendum if the Hamas Islamists still refused to back the proposal, Abbas's spokesman said.
With shootouts between Hamas and Fatah now frequent, many Palestinians fear a referendum could trigger more violence.
But after a meeting in the impoverished Gaza strip brokered by Egyptian officials, Fatah and Hamas leaders urged calm.
Fatah lawmaker Majed Abu Shammala said both sides hoped to end internal violence that has killed nearly 20 people in Gaza in the past month. Previous agreements to end factional bloodshed have not lasted long.
A government spokesman, Ghazi Hamad, said members of a new paramilitary force set up by Hamas would be pulled off Gaza's streets and redeployed to limited locations to ease tensions.
Hamas late last month ordered the 3,000-strong force to pull back, but days later members of the unit fanned out again.
The inauguration of the force last month, despite Mr Abbas's opposition, has been a key source of tension with Fatah.