A militant of Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) was killed by its rival Fatah security forces in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the first killing in the Palestinian territories since a ceasefire went into effect overnight.

Medical sources in the southern town of Khan Younis said that the death was Hussein al-Shubasi, who was shot in the head.

In the meantime, a spokesman from Hamas' armed wing confirmed that a militant of its group was killed by the Preventive Security Service, most of whose members belong to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.

But the Fatah security service denied the report of the killing.

The incident jolted a truce declared just hours earlier between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah after five days of bitter fighting.

Hamas and Fatah have agreed on a ceasefire in Gaza from 3 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Monday night. The ceasefire took effect after Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya of Hamas met an aide with Abbas Monday in a bid to stem a surge of infighting that causing dozens of Palestinians killed and injured.

According to the ceasefire, the two conflicting groups should withdraw their militants from the streets and remove all checkpoints.

It was reported that the two sides also agreed to resume dialogue during the talks with the presence of an Egyptian delegation, which has been busy in mediation in the past days.

Source: Xinhua