A senior Palestinian official said Tuesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas decided to send a high-ranking delegation to the Gaza Strip to finalize the inter- Palestinian reconciliation with Hamas movement, which Hamas called "useless."

Munib al-Masri, a prominent Palestinian businessman and chief of the independent Palestinian figures told reporters on Tuesday that he was assigned by Abbas to head the delegation.

"I have already started contacts to form the senior delegation, which will include members of Fatah movement's central committee and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee and leaders of other factions," said al-Masri.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mohamed Dahlan, a member of Fatah central committee said Abbas decided to send a senior delegation including members of Fatah and PLO executive committee to Gaza to finalize the reconciliation.

"We may finish forming the delegation by Tuesday, then we will travel to the Gaza Strip soon, either through Israel or through Egypt. Reconciliation among the rivals must be achieved as soon as possible, the wounds must be forgotten and the Palestinian people must gain their unity," said al-Masri.

However, Salah al-Bardaweel, a senior Gaza-based Hamas leader said in a press statement that the decision to sent a high-ranking delegation to the Gaza Strip is "useless."

Egypt had in October presented a draft of reconciliation to the Palestinian factions, mainly rival Fatah and Hamas. Fatah accepted the reconciliation draft while Hamas refused to sign and said it had some reservations that should be reconsidered.

"We don't have much time for more initiatives and visits which were decided only for maneuver. We had experienced such visits and initiatives before," said al-Bardaweel, adding "I believe that security coordination and peace talks with Israel must stopped first and Hamas prisoners in West Bank must be released."

Hamas had seized control of the Gaza Strip by force in June 2007 following two weeks of heavy fighting with Fatah security forces. Following Hamas takeover of Gaza, Abbas outlawed the Islamic movement and deposed its government, but Hamas rejected his decree and keeps ruling the enclave.

"Before declaring initiatives and visits for reconciliation, we have to focus right now on confronting the massacre, which was committed by the occupation forces (Israel) against the members of the Freedom Flotilla, which came to express solidarity with the Gaza Strip and to end the siege," he said.

However, Dahlan said in a press statement that President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement decided to form a delegation and meet with Hamas leaders until a reconciliation agreement is reached.

"Once we reach a reconciliation agreement, our people's suffering in the Gaza Strip will end, mainly the three-year Israeli siege," Dahlan said, adding "reaching a reconciliation and ending the Israeli siege will for sure save our time and save the blood of our people and the foreign activists."

Dahlan was referring to Monday's Israeli naval forces attack on the Freedom Flotilla which sailed to the Gaza Strip shores to break the Israeli blockade that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip since Hamas movement's takeover of the enclave. Dozens of Flotilla members were killed and wounded.

"If Hamas is veracious towards ending the embargo and lifting the siege, and this will be clear within the coming few days, but if it is not honest, then Fatah movement will announce that it has done its best to reconcile with Hamas," said Dahlan, who lives in Ramallah.

Meanwhile, Abbas Zaki, another member of Fatah party's central committee said in a statement that Abbas decision to reach a real reconciliation with Hamas "was based on the shortage of time and on resolving our internal crisis by ourselves instead of depending on others."

"Why don't we resolve our feuds by ourselves? I believe that all the previous excuses are meaningless and there is nothing obstructs reaching a real reconciliation," said Zaki.