GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) - Hamas said on Wednesday it rejected any unilateral dissolution of the Palestinian unity government after senior officials reported that President Mahmud Abbas announced it would resign.

"Hamas rejects any one-sided change in the government without the agreement of all parties," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP.

Mr Abbas announced on Tuesday that the Ramallah-based government would resign within the next 24 hours, several senior Fatah officials told AFP.

"Within 24 hours, the Palestinian government will resign," Mr Abbas told members of the Revolutionary Council of his Fatah movement in Ramallah, according to several officials who attended the meeting.

Earlier, the Council's secretary-general had told AFP that the government would step down within 24 hours over its inability to act in the Gaza Strip.

"The government will resign in the next 24 hours because this one is weak and there is no chance that Hamas will allow it to work in Gaza," said secretary-general Amin Maqbul.

But Mr Ihab Bseiso, spokesman for the consensus government, told AFP he was unaware of the matter.

"We had a meeting today and we didn't discuss this issue," he said.