The Palestinian Legislative Council is to meet in Ram Allah to discuss the security situation in the Palestinian territories.

This follows the death of three Palestinians, including a police officer, in clashes between Palestinian police and Hamas fighters in Gaza on Sunday. 

Both sides blame the other for sparking the clashes that also wounded 50, five of them seriously.

On Sunday night, resistance groups, including Hamas, met to discuss the situation as well.

It was agreed to immediately end clashes in the streets, said Aljazeera's correspondent in Gaza, Wail al-Dahduh.

The meetings on Monday will focus on the "honour covenant" that controls relations between factions and the Palestinian Authority.

Regrettable
The deputy head of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Hasan Khreisha, told Aljazeera that the clashes were unacceptable and called for an investigation.

"How strange it is that when all sides and groups claim they care about national unity and safety of Palestinian citizens, what is taking place on the ground is totally different. 

"They indicate the necessity of Palestinian public intervention to end these incidents as they bring the Palestinian society into a state of self destruction, as if we are destroying ourselves," Khreisha added. 

"This is unacceptable in the Palestinian street, the Palestinian Authority and organisations."

The council demands a neutral investigation into the fighting, Khreisha said.  
Third force 

Asked about what was behind the conflict, Khreisha said the Israeli occupation authority was the only beneficiary of inter-Palestinian conflict. 

"This is a part of the Israeli historical plans to spark strife and inter-Palestinian fights," he said. 

"However, our historical experiences have taught Palestinians not to be affected with such Israeli interventions."   

Khreisha also dismissed accusations by Hamas that a group inside the PA is sparking the tension.

"I don't believe there is a single Palestinian official who has called for necessity of disarmament of resistance arms.

"There is a difference between arms chaos and the resistance arms."

Arrests
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has detained another 40 members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad as part of a mass arrest operation in the West Bank overnight, an army spokesman said on Monday.

Nearly 500 Palestinians have been detained in the West Bank by Israel since 25 September following a flare-up in conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli sources said on Sunday they had decided to suspend an offensive in Gaza that involved bombing raids, including two air strikes that killed four resistance fighters.

Israeli army chief of staff General Dan Halutz said the aim of the arrests was to "root out attempts to launch terrorist attacks".

Halutz criticised the idea of Hamas - which has been behind the majority of anti-Israeli attacks during the five-year Palestinian uprising - being allowed to compete in January's legislative elections.

"It's inconceivable that an organisation that is using terrorism can dance to two tunes - a political one and terrorist one."

PHOTO CAPTION

A Palestinian police officer points at the traces of blood of a Palestinian policeman killed late Sunday at a police station at the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, Monday, Oct. 3, 2005. (AP)