Hamas to back truce if Israel remains true to it

Damascus: The exiled leader of the Palestinian group Hamas said on Sunday the group is committed to the recent truce with Israel as long as the Jewish state is.

But Khalid Mesha'al warned that if the truce fails, Hamas will move back toward resistance against Israel.

Mesha'al made his comments to reporters shortly before a meeting of a committee that is to discuss the rift between Hamas and the rival Fatah group of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"I call on Mahmoud Abbas and our brothers in Fatah to quickly sit down to the table of national Palestinian dialogue to achieve national reconciliation and to rearrange our Palestinian home," Mesha'al said.

"Only through our unity and resistance, we would get back our national rights," said Mesha'al who urged Arab countries to sponsor the Palestinian reconciliation.

Deep rift

Over the past year there have been several efforts, notably by Egypt and later by Yemen, to solve disagreements between the two rivals, but to no avail.

The deep rift between the largest two Palestinian groups goes back to a year ago when Hamas ousted Abbas and took control of the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, an envoy to Abbas went to the Gaza Strip to pave the way for reconciliation talks with Hamas. Hikmat Zeid was the first Abbas envoy to enter the territory since Hamas seized power there.

Earlier this month, the government of the African nation of Senegal said Hamas and Fatah have achieved a "direct and fraternal" discussion during two days of talks brokered by Senegal's president.

Abbas also called for reconciliation talks, though he says Hamas must cede power in Gaza.