Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said on Tuesday that it was "too early to talk about the resignation of the [Hamas-run] Palestinian government" in the context of the Mecca agreement on a Palestinian unity government.

Haniyeh made the comment at the entrance to the Palestine Liberation Organization office in the Gaza Strip, where he was meeting with representatives of other Palestinian factions.

Haniyeh had been slated to submit his resignation on Wednesday, according to a statement made Monday by his political adviser, Ahmed Yusuf. But Palestinian sources said Haniyeh is worried that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will try to prevent him from being appointed head of the unity government, due to heavy Israeli and American pressure to get the new government to recognize Israel.

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It appears that Haniyeh is waiting for Abbas to make an official announcement assigning Haniyeh the task of forming a new government. Abbas is expected to make the announcement on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Abbas's adviser, Nabil Amar, said that top European Union officials with whom he met recently in Brussels viewed the Mecca agreement in a positive light but requested more time to examine the new situation.