A senior Fatah official on Tuesday said his movement is cautiously optimistic regarding Islamic Hamas movement's stances to end the Palestinian split.
"We have received some proposals through a number of Palestinian persons regarding Hamas' stances towards the Palestinian reconciliation," Azzam al-Ahmed, a member of Fatah central committee, added in an interview with Voice of Palestine radio, Xinhua reported.
He also recalled that a member of Fatah central committee and other Gaza-based Fatah leaders, authorized by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, visited Gaza and met with several Hamas leaders, affirming that they all have received numerous offers from Hamas rulers of Gaza.
Egypt has drawn up a reconciliation initiative to end the intra- Palestinian power-struggle which broke out in 2007 after Hamas seized control of Gaza following street battles against its rival Fatah movement, which now rules the West Bank.
"We still study these proposals," said al-Ahmed. "We urge Hamas to accept the Egyptian-drafted national reconciliation initiative to heal the rift because it's the only way to reunite."
Contrary to al-Ahmad's statement, a Hamas official, Mahmoud Zahar, said on Monday that it was Fatah which presented the suggestions, adding that the Islamic movement "is studying some offers" aimed to end the Palestinian rift.
"We are studying some suggestions to get past the current phase, " Mahmoud Zahar said during a seminar in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
"If Fatah doesn't accept these suggestions, this doesn't mean the end of the way Hamas is still extending its hand to reconciliation and end the split," he added.
Zahar had not revealed the context of the proposals and had not identified the party that presented them to Hamas.