The Palestinian resistance group Hamas has denied accusations from its rival Fatah of hindering the operation of the Ramallah-based government in the Gaza Strip. In a press conference in Gaza City yesterday, Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya called on the unity government to fulfill its obligations toward Gaza, according to Anadolu Agency (AA).

"Alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza is the duty of the [unity] government, which should not evade its responsibilities," he said.

On Sunday, two Fatah leaders accused Hamas of hindering the Palestinian government from operating in the Gaza Strip. Al-Hayya said Palestinian factions and the Fatah group have failed to pressure the government to lift its punitive measures against the seaside strip.

In April, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas adopted a number of punitive measures as a way of piling pressures on Hamas to relinquish its control of Gaza. The measures included cutting the salaries of Gaza-based employees by 30 percent, reducing the provision of electricity to the territory and the forced retirement of around 6,000 employees.

Despite the signs of warming relations between the two rival factions, the Ramallah-based government has yet to reverse any of the sanctions it imposed.

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement on Oct. 12 to end a decade-long split following talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo, with President Abbas calling it a final accord.

The move came after two days of negotiations in the Egyptian capital on the governing of the Gaza Strip as part of the most serious effort to date to end the 10-year rift between the rival Palestinian groups.

Under the agreement, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority will regain full control of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip by Dec. 1, according to a statement from Egypt's intelligence agency, which oversaw the talks.

The two factions agreed to allow the unity government to assume responsibility for all of Gaza's border crossings no later than Nov. 1.

The West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been politically divided since 2007, when Hamas wrested control of Gaza from Fatah, ending a short-lived unity government established after Hamas swept the 2006 legislative elections that were ultimately rejected by Fatah, Israel and the international community.

Hamas has ruled Gaza, while Abbas's Fatah has controlled autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Abbas seeks both territories, along with east Jerusalem, for a Palestinian state, and the division is a major obstacle to any possible peace deal. Israel captured all three areas in the 1967 Six-Day War, although it withdrew from Gaza in 2005.