PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas will today name July 31 as the date for a referendum on a proposal to set up a Palestinian state that implicitly recognises Israel.
Mr Abbas had given Hamas an ultimatum to accept the proposal, drawn up by Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel, or face a referendum. The ultimatum had ended earlier this week but he extended it to the weekend.
The proposal has embarrassed Hamas because it negates the movement's charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel.
On the other hand, the prisoners in Israeli jails are held in high esteem by the Palestinian public and their wishes cannot lightly be dismissed.
Hamas officials have threatened to boycott the referendum but are trying to avoid a confrontation over the issue. Polls indicate that the Palestinian public strongly supports the proposal.
The Islamist organisation is concerned that a vote in favour of a proposal opposed by Hamas would be seen as undermining the legitimacy Hamas won in the January elections.
Khaled Mashaal, the hardline political leader of Hamas, who is based in Syria, was reported in the Arab media yesterday to be negotiating with Mr Abbas's representatives in an attempt to win changes in the 18-point proposal that would make it acceptable to Hamas.
The negotiations are said to involve the Fatah prisoner, Marwan Barghouti, who initiated the proposal and who is permitted by the Israeli authorities to carry out political activities from prison.
By agreeing to establish a Palestinian state within the pre-Six Day War borders of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the proposal implicitly recognises the existence of Israel within its own pre-war boundaries.
The proposal also calls for acceptance of previous agreements entered into by the Palestinian Authority with Israel, agreements which also implicitly recognise Israel.
As the conflict between Mr Abbas's Fatah party and Hamas simmered, one of the most prominent Palestinian militant leaders in the Gaza Strip, long near the top of Israel's wanted list, was killed in an air strike on a training camp Thursday.
It was not clear whether he was the target.
The militant, Jamal Abu Samhadana, was among four members of the Popular Resistance Committees killed when rockets were fired near midnight at a PRC camp. Ten people were wounded.
The Israeli announcement of the attack did not mention a ''targeted assassination'', which is usually done when an attack is directed against a specific person.
Instead, it spoke of an attack against militants preparing to carry out a major attack inside Israel.
Abu Samhadana had been the target of assassination attempts in the past but always managed to escape. He is said by Israeli officials to have been one of the principal forces behind the launching of rockets into Israel and to have been responsible for fatal attacks on Israeli settlers in Gaza before last year's Israeli pullout.
He is also the principal suspect in an attack on an American convoy in Gaza in 2003, which killed three American security men.
Abu Samhadana was recently named head of a special security force set up in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas Government. This official status raises the question of whether Hamas activists, who have been honouring a ceasefire for the past year, will now resume attacks.
''Israel knows that Abu Samhadana works in the Government,'' said Palestinian cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hamad.
''By killing him, they are sending a message that all its members, from the prime minister to junior employees, are targets for death.''
A PRC spokesman said the organisation would seek revenge by suicide bombings and rocket attacks against Israel.