The Hamas delegation is to be headed by its Qatar-based political chief Ismail Haniyeh, while the Fatah representation will be led by deputy head Mahmud Alul, Fatah sources said.

The two groups have been rivals since Hamas fighters ejected Fatah from the Gaza Strip after Hamas's resounding victory in a 2006 election.

After seizing control of Gaza in 2007, the Hamas movement has ruled the territory ever since.

The secularist Fatah movement controls the Palestinian Authority which has partial administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Several reconciliation bids have failed, but calls have grown since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, with violence also soaring in the West Bank where Fatah is based.

China hosted Fatah and Hamas in April but a meeting scheduled for June was postponed.

The representatives are to meet with Chinese officials in Beijing on July 20 and July 21, according to Fatah's central committee deputy secretary general Sabri Saidam.

Before that, a meeting of the two groups could take place, he added.

The goal said Saidam, "is to end the state of division with a commitment to past agreements and agreeing on a relationship between the Palestinian groups in the next stage."

Another Fatah executive member also said a joint Fatah-Hamas meeting could be held in Beijing before the official agenda starts.

China has positioned itself as a more neutral actor on the Israel-Palestinian conflict than its rival the United States, advocating for a two-state solution while also maintaining good ties with Israel.

* This story was edited by Ahram Online.