Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya of Hamas on Sunday urged President Mahmoud Abbas of rival Fatah to withdraw his forces from Gaza streets amid temporary quietness.

"We are not in need of more troops...the forces under the President's commands have specific tasks," Haneya said ahead of an urgent meeting for the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)-led cabinet in Gaza.

Haneya said that the Interior Ministry, controlled by his party, has direct responsibility to impose law and internal order.

His remarks underscored the power struggle between his Hamas movement and Abbas' once-dominant Fatah.

The Hamas-led cabinet met Sunday to discuss latest flare-up of violence that has claimed 23 lives in the Gaza Strip since Thursday.

Militants loyal to Abbas-led Fatah battled fierce clashes with Hamas gunmen over the past three days. The tension was ignited when a member of Hamas' police was killed in a roadside bomb blast in northern Gaza, which Hamas accused Fatah of being behind.

The recent clashes were the bloodiest since Dec. 16 last year when Abbas called for earlier elections. Hamas labeled Abbas' call as a coup and termed some of his aides, mainly Mohammed Dahlan, "coup-makers."

Despite calmness in Gaza, militants affiliated with Fatah's armed wing, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, have kidnapped 10 Hamas members in the West Bank city of Nablus, including a local Hamas representative in the city.

The militants said they will hold Hamas members as hostages until Interior Minister Said Siam of Hamas resigns.

The hostages included Fayad al-Aghbar who was elected as member of municipality council, and a bodyguard for Deputy Prime Minister Nasser al-Sha'er.

Meanwhile, the other Palestinian factions have urged Hamas and Fatah to remain calm and return to talks.

The new round of fighting has blocked the national dialogue which resumed in Gaza on Tuesday.

The talks were aimed at reaching a deal to form a coalition government to lift international sanctions on the Hamas-led government and avert the internal political crisis.

Hamas, which already suspended the talks, said Sunday that they are ready to participate in the dialogue but demanded that "those responsible for these bloody clashes be brought into account."

"Hamas did not close the door of national dialogue but those behind the events must be punished at first," said Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan.

But Faisal Abu Shahla, a lawmaker from Fatah, in return, also blamed the Interior Ministry and security forces for the recent violence.

"There is a democratic system that must be respected and the law must prevail," Abu Shahla said.

Fatah said on Saturday that they will continue the dialogue.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia invited leaders from the rival Palestinian factions of Fatah and Hamas for talks in the holy city of Mecca, which was accepted by the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz announced the invitation in an open letter on Sunday as the latest flare-up of violence had claimed the lives of 23 people in the Gaza Strip since Thursday.

The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted the king's statement as saying that "I invite all my Palestinian brothers ... to an urgent meeting in their brotherly Saudi Arabia at the sacred house of God (Mecca's Grand Mosque) ... to discuss their differences without any intervention from any outside parties."

Reports said that Palestinian Foreign Ministry spokesman Taher An-Nono later on Sunday expressed Hamas' welcome to the invitation.

However, the Fatah movement led by President Mahmoud Abbas has yet to respond to the offer.

Source: Xinhua