Delegations from Fatah and Hamas are in Egypt to resume talks aimed at reviving a national dialogue agreement between the two groups.
Members from the two factions headed to the Egyptian intelligence headquarters on Monday to begin the latest round of reconciliation talks.
The delegates will also hold talks with Omar Suleiman, Egypt's intelligence chief.
Fatah and Hamas have so far failed to reach agreement on the formation of a transitional national unity government pending legislative and presidential elections.
The groups are also expected to reply to an Egyptian proposal which seeks the establishment of a steering committee to co-ordinate business between the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas, which has de facto control of the Gaza Strip.
Government priority
Amr el-Kakhy, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Cairo, said that he had been told by a source close to Hamas that the group's priority was to reach an agreement towards a unity government.
"If that's not possible ... then Hamas wants the joint steering committee to function independently," he reported.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and leader of the Fatah, said in a speech in Ramallah on Monday that any new government would have to abide by previous peace accords, but made it clear that this did not mean Hamas would have to change its position in order to join the cabinet.
Hamas has insisted that a new government would not commit to previous agreements because this would mean recognition of the state of Israel, which Hamas is opposed to.
'Talks sabotaged'
A senior Hamas official reacted to Abbas's statement by saying he had sabotaged the Cairo reconciliation talks.
"By making such stipulations Abbas has already killed the talks," Osama Hamadan told Al Jazeera.
Hamas wants the steering committee to help facilitate presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for January 2010 and not to fall under the control of the PA, el-Kakhy said.
But the organization will not allow the body to "organize or monitor" the vote, he said.
PHOTO CAPTION
Palestinian chief negotiator Ahmed Qorei(L), a member of the Fatah faction, speaks to Mussa Abu Marzouk, the exiled number two of Hamas, in Cairo, in February 2009.
Al-Jazeera