Hamas leader Khaled Meshal on Sunday called on rival Gaza Strip factions to cease fighting for the benefit of all Palestinians, and to remember the "real battle" with Israel.

"I call on all our brothers in the Palestinian areas ... to shoulder their responsibilities. We want a lasting calm between us. We should preserve our blood. Dialogue is the only way to resolve our differences," Meshal said.

Meshal is to meet Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Mecca on Tuesday for reconciliation talks hosted by Saudi King Abdullah, the highest-profile mediation effort in several weeks of fighting.

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"It is forbidden to fail," Meshal said of the talks in a televised address from the Syrian capital on Sunday. "I call on all our brothers ... to restrain themselves and to remember our real battle" with Israel.

Senior Fatah and Hamas officials met in Gaza Sunday to try to firm up the ceasefire efforts and said the signs were encouraging.

"The freeing of hostages will be completed tonight and a mechanism has been set up to remove checkpoints from the streets," said Ahmed Helles, a senior Fatah in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas is holding nine Fatah abductees and Fatah has 28 men.

Ayman Taha of Hamas said the parties had set midnight local time as the deadline for gunmen to be removed from rooftops in order to "ease the plight of citizens and return things to normal".

Gunmen began withdrawing from the streets, some hostages were released and many shops reopened Sunday, Gaza Strip residents said, as a shaky cease-fire appeared to be taking hold after the latest deadly outbreak of factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah.

Local police took up positions at main intersections following a tense morning in which mortar bombs exploded close to the offices of Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas of Fatah.

Hamas denied its gunmen fired the mortar bombs. The explosions caused no injuries.

It was unclear how long this latest cease-fire, agreed late Saturday, would hold. Previous agreements to stop the fighting collapsed within days or hours.

Gunmen from the ruling Hamas movement released some of their Fatah hostages. But many more were still held.

Israel Radio reported Sunday that Hamas gunmen had kidnapped the nephew of Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan, whom Hamas has singled out as its arch-foe in Gaza Strip infighting. The nephew, identified as Ashraf Dahlan, serves as a driver in Dahlan's office, the radio said. Gunmen apparently seized him at a roadblock, and his fate is unknown.

Fierce fighting between Hamas and Fatah had brought life to a near-standstill for residents of the narrow coastal strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

A hospital source said two members of Abbas' presidential guard died Sunday from gunshot wounds suffered in fighting over the weekend, raising to 27 the number of Palestinians killed in factional clashes in the last four days.

Among the victims, four were children. Of the more than 230 wounded, 41 were in critical condition, including 15 in intensive care, hospital officials said.

Rival gunmen defied calls to withdraw from the streets earlier Sunday, although both sides said they would abide by the truce.

More than 80 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting since December, when unity government talks between the ruling Hamas movement and Abbas's Fatah faction broke down and the moderate PA chairman called for holding new elections.

Before the truce took hold Sunday, bursts of gunfire alternated with periods of calm, and in areas of Gaza City not affected by the fighting, people tried to go about their lives.

Boys played soccer in the streets, horse-drawn carts maneuvered through alleys and shoppers stocked up on supplies for the next round of battle.

Nasser Mushtaha, who owns a high-rise near Abbas' compound, said members of the PA chairman's presidential guard were posted on his roof and at the entrance to the building.

He said he received phone calls from Hamas members who warned they would blow up the building unless the troops left. But some of the guardsmen refused.

Mushtaha complained about his building being used as an outpost.

"Who will protect us? What is our fault? We are neither Fatah nor Hamas," he said Saturday, adding that dozens of windows had already been shattered by bullets.

In the Sheik Radwan neighborhood, Ali Ustaz used a lull to buy a battery-powered radio so he could follow developments despite frequent power cuts.

"There is no hope for a solution," Ustaz said, referring to an elusive power-sharing deal between Abbas, the Fatah leader, and the Islamic militant Hamas, the two factions grappling for control of the Palestinian government.

Meeting in Mecca
Abbas and Hamas' exiled political leader, Meshal, are to meet Tuesday in Mecca, Saudi Arabia for a reconciliation hosted by Saudi King Abdullah. The highest-profile mediation effort in several weeks of fighting is increasing pressure on both sides to end their power struggle and form a coalition government.

In Cairo, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the stalled Middle East peace process depended on resolving the conflict between rival Palestinian factions as well as the release of the Israel Defense Forces soldier captured by Hamas-linked militants in June.

Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mubarak said Egypt was working to heal the rift between Hamas and Fatah.

An Abbas aide said the Palestinian leader is prepared to stay up to three days in Mecca, accompanied by a large delegation. Abbas' advisers could continue negotiations after he leaves.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum also said he expected talks to go on for several days. "There are big obstacles to overcome in this dialogue. It will not be a minute or an hour," he said.

Control over the security forces and the wording of a new government program are the main sticking points. Abbas wants a Hamas commitment in writing to agreements reached by the PLO, including peace deals with Israel.

The especially bloody round of fighting has deepened resentment on both sides. Stepping up provocations, gunmen have attacked their rivals' strongholds, such as the Hamas-dominated Islamic university and Abbas' presidential compound.