Jamil Al-Majdalawi, a member of the politburo of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), told reporters that the agreement was reached at a Monday meeting in Gaza between Prime Minister and senior Hamas leader Ismail Haneya and Rawhi Fattouh, representative of President Mahmoud Abbas who is also Fatah chairman.

Al-Majdalawi, who also attended the meeting, told reporters that the Hamas and Fatah leaders agreed to bring an end to the internal tension and conflicts that have claimed the lives of several people in the past few weeks.

Al-Majdalawi said that Haneya and Fattouh agreed on the formation of a National Security Council which will come under Abbas' control and take charge of probing latest violent clashes between Hamas and Fatah supporters.

In addition, the two sides also decided to open talks on merging a security force, newly established by the Hamas-led government despite Abbas' opposition, into Palestinian police forces in accordance to Palestinian Law and Abbas' recommendations,according to al-Majdalawi.

Meanwhile, he also urged the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) to take appropriate measures to help end the current tensionin the Gaza streets.

Dispute over the control of Palestinian security forces have led to fierce confrontations between Hamas and Fatah supporters in the Gaza Strip.

A Jordanian citizen was killed and nine Palestinians including policemen were wounded in a gunbattle between the Hamas security forces and police loyal to Abbas in Gaza City on Monday, the latest bloody violence in the Gaza streets.

The tensions were triggered when Interior Minister and senior Hamas member Saeed Siam ordered the deployment of the 3,000-strong security force in the Gaza Strip on May 17, although Abbas vetoed the formation of the force, terming it illegal.

Abbas' Fatah movement, once dominant on the Palestinian political stage, was defeated by Hamas in the January legislative polls.

But most of the security forces are Fatah supporters and Abbas has appointed a close ally to head the security forces and redeploy some of his elite security forces in the Gaza Strip.