Following weeks of intense diplomatic activity between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and several Arab and western leaders, Palestinian sources close to the President have indicated that Abbas is scheduled to give a speech later this week, in which he will outline practical steps aimed at ending months of increased internal tensions and volatile factional strife.

The sources stated that “…President Abbas will give an important speech this week in which he will declare some practical steps to resolve the political crisis in the Palestinian territories,” adding that “…Abbas will take several measures on the internal front, particularly the dissolution of the current Palestinian government and the formation of a new one, through agreement with Hamas, that will work on preparation for early legislative elections by the middle of 2007.”

At the same time, it was also unveiled by the same sources that Hamas is leaning towards acceptance of the Arab peace initiative under the condition of a specific and firm timeframe and Israel’s full withdrawal from all the territories it captured in the June 1967 War.

Meanwhile, Abbas’ Fateh movement has also confirmed that the President’s anticipated on-the-ground steps come as a result of Arab and international diplomatic efforts, particularly the latest round of talks between representatives of the Hamas-led Palestinian government and Syrian official in Damascus.

Since last January’s legislative elections, hence Hamas’ rise to power, the occupied Palestinian territories have been diplomatically and economically isolated by the international community. Under a US-led boycott of the Hamas-led government, the international community has withheld financial assistance to the basic Palestinian public sectors, resulting in the devastation of an already shattered economy after years of Israeli assaults and strangulation.