Egypt will start as of next week inviting all Palestinian factions for talks on the resumption of inter-Palestinian dialogue, the Egyptian official MENA news agency reported on Tuesday.
Egyptian mediators will hold bilateral talks first with Palestinian groups to reach a unified stance on the current crisis in the Palestinian territories, MENA quoted a reliable source as saying on condition of anonymity.
A comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue gathering all Palestinian factions will be held in Cairo under the auspices of Egypt, said the source.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Egypt's invitation for the dialogue, said the source, adding Abbas has given his top priority to ending the inter-Palestinian division and pledged to render the talks a success.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Hamas movement Tuesday denied receiving an Egyptian invitation to start internal Palestinian dialogue.
"We did not receive any invitation for dialogue recently," said Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha. "Earlier, we have received some questions from Egypt about the goals and the issues that the dialogue should focus on."
Taha also said that Hamas has handed over its answers to the questions by its deputy politburo chief Moussa Abu Marzouq.
The Egyptian efforts to help relaunch the inter-Palestinian dialogue were obstructed last month when tension between Hamas and Fatah mounted after a beachside blast with a girl and five Hamas members killed in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas launched a crackdown against Fatah in Gaza after accusing Fatah of being behind the explosion. Fatah denied any involvement and responded by arresting many Hamas members in the West Bank.