A Palestinian official on Tuesday expected that Egypt will succeed in brokering a reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas movement in July.

"Egypt is determined to end the Palestinian internal schism on July 7," said Ahmed Qurei, leader of the Fatah delegation to the Cairo-hosted inter-Palestinian dialogue.

He was referring to the date Egypt fixes to announce a Palestinian national deal to end two years of split after the Islamic Hamas movement ousted President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party and seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

Egypt intends to turn to Syria, which has an influence on Hamas, to push the Palestinian groups to sign the deal, Qurei told the Ramallah-based al-Ayyam daily.

The Egyptian efforts to reconcile the two movements were in peril as Hamas militants and pro-Abbas forces clashed twice in the Fatah-ruled West Bank last week, resulting in nine fatalities from both sides.

Following the incidents, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman met Fatah officials in Cairo on Sunday and is meeting with a Hamas delegation Tuesday, in a bid to curb further deterioration fueled by the West Bank standoff.

In the coming days, Egypt will also "determine how to bridge the gaps" between Hamas and Fatah, said Qurei.

He reiterated that both sides still differed over the electoral law, the security issue and the unity government, the three complicated issues blocking the talks from going forward.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2009)