Last month, Hamas agreed to cede powers in Gaza to President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah-backed government in a deal mediated by Egypt.

:: Palestinian rival factions Hamas and Fatah have reached a deal over political reconciliation and details will be released at a news conference later on Thursday, the pro-Hamas Palestinian Information Center reported.

Quoting a member of the Hamas media department, the website did not provide further details but said they would be announced at a noon news conference in Cairo, where unity talks between the rival factions began on Tuesday.

The Western-backed mainstream Fatah party lost control of Gaza to Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the West and Israel, in fighting in 2007. But last month Hamas agreed to cede powers in Gaza to President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah-backed government in a deal mediated by Egypt.

3,000 police officers

Some 3,000 police officers from the Palestinian Authority are to redeploy to Gaza as part of the unity agreement, a Palestinian official said on Thursday.

“According to the agreement, the Palestinian government will be able to take over all its roles in the civil and security sectors, for which 3,000 Palestinian policemen from the …. Palestinian Authority will be redeployed,” the official involved in the talks told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The figure is a fraction of the number of police officers employed by Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip.