Rival Palestinian factions met here yesterday at the start of a marathon effort to forge a national unity government and resolve major disputes between Hamas and Fatah, the two largest groups.

Senior delegations from Hamas and Fatah and smaller factions began work in five reconciliation committees which they agreed to form last month in the Egyptian capital. The talks are expected to last for 10 days. The meeting began with speeches by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman — who has brokered the talks — calling on the factions to work hard toward reconciliation.

But lingering distrust between Hamas and Fatah threatens to complicate the talks. “I want to remind you of the consequences ... if there were a failure to reach an agreement,” Suleiman warned the rival factions. “You all know the consequences. You have in front of you an opportunity that will not come again.”

Abul Gheit warned that the chasm between the factions threatened to sap the readiness of international donors to support the Palestinian cause. “I have had many moments of desperation when talking to the many countries that have stood by us and said that you and (the Palestinians) are losing out because of the division,” he said.

The stakes are high after Israel’s devastating 22-day war on Gaza that left 1,300 Palestinians dead.

International donors pledged $4.5 billion for reconstruction aid for the impoverished coastal strip last month. But many donor countries, backed by President Mahmoud Abbas’ government, have said they will not deal with the Hamas authorities in Gaza.

Western governments have expressed their support for President Abbas’ proposal for a government of independents and technocrats. “On the issue of the government and its program, we are not too far off,” said Fatah senior negotiator Nabil Shaath, the faction’s representative in the committee tasked with forming a government. “What will be the difficult questions are the tasks the government would have and one is the security issue,” he said.