Mahmoud Abbas offers condolences to Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar over the death of his son in an Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip.

The phone call marked the first contact between the Fatah leader and a senior Hamas figure in Gaza since the latter group's takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

Hamas said Palestinian Authority Chief, Mahmoud Abbas, suspended his boycott by phoning Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas official whose son was among 20 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza on Tuesday 16th January 2008.

"In the first call since June, President Mahmoud telephoned Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar ... and offered his condolences on the killing of Zahar's son," said Taher al-Nono, spokesman for the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip.

"The telephone conversation was very friendly and the two leaders spoke at length about the current political situation and they both stressed the unity of the Palestinian people regardless of the differences," he said.

The Palestinian government, led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, also expressed his sorrow over the death of al-Zahar's son.