GAZA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived in Gaza on Thursday, held a meeting with Prime Minister Ismail Haneya in Gaza on the formation of a unity government and agreed to continue their discussions in more meetings.

    Official sources at Abbas' Gaza headquarters revealed that Abbas and Haneya meeting was held away from the mass media, adding that the meeting aimed at putting the final touches on the formation of the expected national unity government.

    The sources said that Abbas and Haneya agreed at their Thursday meeting to have more meetings in the coming days, and Abbas would stay in Gaza for a while to hammer out an agreement on forming the new government.

    "They discussed the results of the dialogues held between Fatah and Hamas movements last week in Gaza on the formation of the government and the delivery of the portfolios to those who would join it," said the sources.

    The Hamas-led government insists that the formation of a new national unity government should be after Abbas gets guarantees that the siege imposed on the Palestinians would be lifted.

    Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of High Education Nasser el-Dein al-Sha'er had earlier said that President Abbas had received oral guarantees from several Arab countries that the siege imposed on the Palestinians would be lifted.

    Other sources denied that Haneya and Abbas had failed to reach a consensus during their talks on the national unity government, adding that they agreed to resume their talks in Gaza on Saturday.

    Palestinian movements of Hamas and Fatah agreed on replacing the Hamas-led government with a broader unity one to get the Palestinian territory out of the current economic and political crisis. Progress has been made on the issue and some Palestinian officials expect the new government to be declared by the end of November.