A ceasefire between the Palestinian ruling party Hamas and its rival Fatah has come into force as they sought to end four days of vicious factional fighting that left 33 people dead.
Gaza City residents said sporadic gunfire ended shortly before the ceasefire came into force at 3:00 am (0100 GMT).
The ceasefire, arranged late on Monday, comes amid increasing international pressure on the Palestinian factions to resolve their differences and form a national unity government, as well as efforts to revive the peace process with Israel.
Palestinian foreign minister Mahmud Zahar announced the ceasefire late on Monday after an agreement was reached by Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya and Rawhi Fattuh, a representative of Palestinian Fatah president Mahmud Abbas.
In addition to withdrawing their armed men from the streets, the factions agreed to release hostages they have each taken from the other side over recent days. Zahar added that Haniya and Abbas would meet soon to relaunch a dialogue.
The latest bout of violence was the worst since Hamas won a landslide election a year ago, and torpedoed on-and-off talks to broker a power-sharing agreement.
Despite a Saudi offer Sunday to mediate, clashes continued throughout Monday.
Two officers in the mainstream and pro-Fatah security apparatus, a Hamas militant and a civilian died.
On Monday night, a rocket-propelled grenade slammed into the Palestinian national security and police headquarters in Gaza City, causing widespread damage, witnesses and security sources said.
During the four days of bitter fighting, which left around 100 people wounded, the warring factions set up roadblocks and traded gun, anti-rocket and mortar fire throughout Gaza.
Streets became deserted as shopkeepers boarded up shops and civilians retreated to the relative safety of their homes.
Abbas was set to hold talks Tuesday in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking publicly on the latest bout of fighting for the first time, Abbas on Monday described the troubles as ‘tragic‘ and insisted that he would not allow the territories to disintegrate into civil war.
In a telephone conversation with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Haniya promised that his Hamas-led government would ‘make maximum effort to defuse the explosive situation,‘ the cabinet said.
Egyptian security representatives also attended the meeting in Gaza between Haniya and Fattuh.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose country recently hosted talks between Abbas and Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal, telephoned Mubarak to discuss ways to end the fighting, said the SANA news agency.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia‘s King Abdullah offered to hold talks in the Muslim holy city of Mecca to stop what he called the ‘disgraceful‘ fighting, a proposal welcomed by Palestinian leaders on both sides.
Meshaal, who is based in Syria, and Fatah party leader Abbas, welcomed the offer, although no date for talks has yet been announced and previous efforts to end the feuding have collapsed as killings have continued.
The groups blame each other for provoking the violence, which has exacerbated the woes of Palestinians gripped by the worst economic crisis in their recent history following a Western aid freeze after Hamas took office.
Hamas‘s rise to power has pitted its loyalists against the once dominant Fatah, which still occupies the presidency in a divided Palestinian government.
Tensions were aggravated last month when Abbas announced a plan for early elections, angering Hamas, which denounced it as a bid to seize power. Talks on a national unity government resumed on January 23 but were interrupted by violence.
Palestinians are struggling to survive under the Western-led boycott against defiant Hamas, which refuses international demands to recognise Israel, renounce violence and abide by past peace deals.
The international quartet for Middle East peace is to meet on Friday in Washington ahead of a planned meeting in February between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.