A spokesman of the Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement said on Wednesday it was still early to predict an agreement in the fresh round of inter-Palestinian dialogue slated for May 16 to 19 in Cairo.

"It is early to expect a final agreement in this round of dialogue," said spokesman Ismail Radwan in Gaza.

He added that the Hamas delegation will leave for Cairo on Friday, one day before the beginning of the dialogue with rival Fatah movement which is headed by President Mahmoud Abbas.

"Hamas and Fatah will meet alone on the first two days of the dialogue while an expanded meeting for all the factions will be held on the third day," Radwan said.

In previous rounds of dialogue, the factions failed to reach an agreement on a unity government and other outstanding issues. The trend is to keep the Hamas-run administration in Gaza and the Abbas-backed government in the West Bank until holding elections by January 2010.

"We hope the outstanding issues, especially the electoral law, the government's political platform and the security issues would resolve," Radwan said.

Fatah has emphasized that the would-be unity government must abide by international conditions and relevant peace deals but Hamas translates this as recognition of Israel and thus rejects it.

Since Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and seized Gaza in 2007, Abbas consolidated his rule in West Bank by forming a Western-backed government while Hamas tightened its grip on Gaza through an internationally-isolated administration.