REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, GAZA CITY - A unity government is to take control of the Gaza Strip, after a breakthrough in talks between Palestinian factions on Thursday which could strengthen their hand in talks with Israel next month.

The Gaza ceasefire struck in August between Israel and the Palestinians called for the Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, to take over civil administration in Gaza from the Islamist Hamas.

Hamas group and Fatah movement on Thursday reached a partial agreement on governing the Gaza Strip, though two major issues between them — salaries for ex-Hamas employees and control over the coastal territory's security forces — remain unresolved, a Hamas official said.

The official did not provide details of the partial deal and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss with media the negotiations between two Palestinian factions that are under way in Cairo. Other figures in Hamas and Fatah provided only vague accounts of the accord.

The two groups agreed in April to form a unity government in Gaza, which is now ruled by Hamas, but it never really took hold amid longstanding tensions between the factions. The tensions appear to have spiked in recent weeks over Fatah claims that Hamas's conduct of the recent Hamas war with Israel led to unacceptably high losses of life and damage to property.

The 50 day conflict in July and August in the Gaza Strip killed more than 2,100 Palestinians and left more than 18,000 homes destroyed or severely damaged. The need to present a joint front ahead of planned donor talks for Gaza's reconstruction may be pushing the rival factions together now, even if much work remains to be done before any sustainable reconciliation between them can be achieved. Officials from the two sides have been meeting this week in Cairo to try to work out their differences.

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