Moving closer to reconciliation? Egyptian sources reported Sunday night that Fatah and Hamas were able to reach agreement on the establishment of a joint security force in the Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian MENA news agency reported that the groups reached understandings on the formation of the joint force, and that the agreement on the matter as well as on other issues will be signed on July 7th.

"There has been agreement in principle on the formation of a common force from the two factions to work in the Gaza Strip until the elections (which should be held) before next January 5," the Fatah's Nabil Shaath was quoted as saying.

However, the head of Fatah's parliament faction, Azam al-Ahmed, said that the matter has not yet been finalized.

"In principle, we agreed on the establishment of a joint force…yet there is still a long road ahead before we finalize the matter and its finer details, and we cannot say that it has been finalized yet," he said.

"We still face disagreements regarding the number of members in the force, its powers, and the question of whether the force would be deployed at the crossings," the Fatah official said.

Al-Ahmed added that the latest round of Fatah-Hamas talks did not result in an agreement on the question of elections and other disputed issues.