Blair meets Abbas as shaky truce holds

Abbas's Fatah and Hamas accused each other of violating the cease-fire but said it was still in effect in the wake of days of heavy fighting that pushed Gaza to the brink of civil war. They said some hostages held by both sides had been freed overnight.

Witnesses said the Hamas Islamists had also withdrawn their police force from a number of streets.

Fighting escalated after Abbas called on Saturday for fresh presidential and parliamentary elections, a move intended to break political deadlock with Hamas and lift crippling Western sanctions on its administration.

Officials from Hamas and Fatah were expected to meet on Monday to try to cement the cease-fire. Previous deals to end internal fighting this year have quickly collapsed.

Blair, on a drive to revive Middle East peace negotiations, arrived in Israel just before Hamas and Fatah announced the deal on Sunday night.

He was meeting Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah and will hold talks later with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem. Blair has backed Abbas's call to hold early polls, saying the international community should support the president.

There was sporadic gunfire overnight in Gaza, including an incident in which two members of a Hamas-led police force were wounded just after the truce was announced. Residents denied reports of a dawn gunbattle around Abbas's home in Gaza.

"Calm is continuing despite the fact that there were some serious violations," said Abdel-Hakim Awad, a Fatah spokesman.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said: "Hamas will abide by the agreement ... The issue is also dependent on the commitment of the other side."

Presidential guards were still maintaining tight security around Abbas's office, which came under mortar attack on Sunday. The president was not in Gaza at the time.

Abbas's guards were also still in charge of the Hamas-led Agriculture and Transport ministries, although they allowed several employees to enter.

Forces loyal to Hamas and Fatah fought street and rooftop gunbattles across Gaza on Sunday in which at least three people were killed and 20 wounded.

Hamas, which surprised the once dominant Fatah to win elections in January, has said it would boycott new polls. The two factions tried for months to form a unity government to end their power struggle, but the talks foundered, partly over Hamas's insistence on not recognising Israel.

The truce calls for the factions to withdraw their fighters, and for Abbas's forces to end their siege of the ministries.