GAZA CITY, 16 August 2006 — In what is considered by many as a significant development, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh yesterday discussed a possible national unity government grouping their respective Fatah and Hamas movements.

The two men, who had not met since late June, “discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and the crisis the Palestinian Authority is experiencing,” a statement said.Abbas has been pushing for the full implementation of a national reconciliation accord reached in June after weeks of on-off talks between Hamas and Fatah, as well as for the creation of a national unity government.

Haniyeh says his support for such a move is conditional on the release of the dozens of Hamas officials — including eight ministers and several lawmakers — captured by the Israeli Army in late June.

The sweep on the Islamist movement was launched in response to the June 25 attack claimed by three fighter groups — including Hamas’ armed wing — in which two Israeli soldiers were killed and one captured.

Palestinian Parliament Speaker Aziz Dweik, from Hamas, was also arrested on Aug. 5. Labor Minister Mohammed Barghouti was released Monday.

Meanwhile, Egyptian mediators have presented Hamas and other groups with a new proposal aimed at ending the six-week-old standoff over the captured Israeli soldier, Hamas officials said yesterday.

A source close to the negotiations said the proposal called for Hamas to transfer Cpl. Gilad Shalit to Egyptian authorities in return for Israel’s release of up to 600 Palestinian prisoners, including women and minors.

Another group of Palestinian prisoners, including many who have served longer sentences, would be freed by Israel at a later date.

“A new offer was made to the Hamas movement by the Egyptian security delegation in Gaza,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told reporters, declining to discuss the proposal’s contents. He said the militant groups would not back down from demands that Palestinian prisoners be released in exchange for Shalit.

“Hamas is still committed to its demand that there must be reciprocity in time and action,” Abu Zuhri said.

He also stressed the group was insisting that those freed fell under the categories of prisoners specified by the three factions holding Shalit. Haniyeh said last week that he hoped a deal over Shalit could be reached soon, though he offered no details. A senior Palestinian official said Qatar had recently stepped in to help mediate between Israel and Hamas. “Israel has made new offers to Hamas via the Qataris in return for Shalit,” the official said.

In another development, Palestinian security services in Gaza searched yesterday for two foreign journalists from the US television channel Fox News after their abduction by armed men in the coastal strip.

“We have begun an investigation to determine who kidnapped the two journalists in Gaza, and we have begun a search to find them as soon as possible,” a spokesman for the Palestinian Interior Ministry said.

US reporter Steve Centanni and freelance cameraman Olaf Wiig, from New Zealand, were snatched by gunmen who intercepted their car in Gaza City late Monday.

“Two of our colleagues were abducted yesterday in Gaza,” a spokeswoman for Fox in Jerusalem said. “There are some negotiations. We hope they will be released soon.” Fox said that the pair had been reporting from the region for several weeks.

New Zealand said it had sent diplomats to Gaza to seek the release of Wiig and his colleague. “New Zealand diplomats are traveling to the region to work with other officials and governments on the release of Wiig and his colleague,” Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday.

According to witnesses, armed men stopped the journalists’ car as it drove through Gaza City and hauled out the pair and their Palestinian driver, who was released a hundred meters away.

— With input from agencies