Tel Aviv - Israeli human rights groups have urged their government to investigate allegations of war crimes committed during the Gaza offensive, after a number of Israeli soldier told a symposium of lax rules of engagement that allowed civilians to be killed.

The nine groups, which include B'Tselem and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, demanded the government's attorney-general establish an "independent" investigative body, not linked to the military, to examine the allegations.

Gaza City/Cairo  - Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum announced on Thursday that the Palestinian factions meeting in Cairo to flesh out the contours of a national unity government had concluded the first round of talks after nine days of intense negotiations.

Barhoum, in a statement released in the Egyptian capital, said that leaders of 13 Palestinian factions, including Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, would leave Cairo for consultations with other faction leaders.

Gaza City/Cairo - Hamas said Wednesday that Palestinian factions agreed in Cairo on forming a transitional unity government which would prepare for new elections by early next year, but the sides were still disputing the government's platform.

Fawzi Barhoum, a senior leader of the radical Islamist movement ruling the Gaza Strip, said in a written statement sent to journalists from Cairo that the parties agreed on the nature of the government, which will be a transitional one that is to prepare for new elections on a date no later than January 25, 2010.

Gaza

Rafah, Egypt  - Egyptian security forces on Tuesday prevented a member in the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from crossing into the Gaza Strip carrying some 850,000 dollars in cash, according to an Egyptian security source.

The member, who was not named, was among the delegates leaving Egypt via the Rafah border crossing following the conclusion of a first round of the Cairo-hosted intensive reconciliation talks between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.

Gaza  - The Palestinian Hamas movement on Tuesday blamed Israel for the failure of negotiations for a possible prisoner swap deal and threatened to abduct more Israeli soldiers.

"Israel is the one that hindered Shalit's deal," Hamas said in a statement Tuesday night as Israel announced the failure of negotiations for a deal that would see the release of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for jailed Palestinian militants.