Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniya have reached agreement on a manifesto at the heart of a power struggle between their rival groups, officials say.

The political document, penned by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, implicitly recognises Israel.

But the phrasing of the Abbas-Haniya deal appeared to leave the prime minister's Hamas movement wriggle room on the issue.

Rawhi Fattouh, a senior aide to Abbas, the president, said on Tuesday after the factions meeting in Gaza initialled the accord, that "all the obstacles were removed and an agreement was reached on all the points of the prisoners' document".

Fattouh said Haniya and Abbas, a Fatah leader, would formally announce the deal later in the day.

A Hamas spokesman confirmed an agreement was reached.

Peace chances slim

But with Israel and the Palestinians preparing for a possible Israeli offensive in Gaza over the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier, there appeared to be little chance agreement over the document could open a path towards peacemaking soon.

Officials close to the negotiations, which have dragged on for weeks, said Abbas and Haniya agreed on a platform based on the manifesto, accepting a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Such a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be in line with Fatah's recognition of Israel.

But officials said before Fattouh's announcement that the phrasing also noted that moves towards statehood, including Arab initiatives seeking peace with Israel and international resolutions on the conflict, must serve Palestinian interests.

That could allow Hamas to reject, on those grounds, any accommodation with, or recognition of, Israel.

Referendum off

The deal also appeared likely to lead to the cancellation of a July 26 referendum Abbas scheduled over Hamas's objections on the prisoners' document.

Under the accord, Hamas, leading the Palestinian government on its own after an election victory in January, would agree to form a unity administration with Fatah and other factions, officials said before Fattouh made his statement.

Hamas had insisted it would head any governing coalition, but it was not immediately clear if it won the point in the agreement.

Source: www.aljazeera.net

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