GAZA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- A senior Hamas official on Wednesday warned of "dangerous consequences" facing the Palestinians if President Mahmoud Abbas went ahead to stage elections without national agreement.

    "The elections should be held with national understanding for the sake of the Palestinian interest," Khalil al-Hayya said at a news conference in Gaza city.

    Abbas, who heads Fatah party, has decreed presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in January 2010, though Hamas, which dominates the current parliament, refuses the polls.

    Al-Hayya said his movement, which holds sway in the besieged Gaza Strip, "has been studying open choices" to respond to Abbas' decree.

    Abbas said he called for elections after Hamas rejected an Egyptian proposal to bury the hatchet between the two movements and restore political ties to Gaza and the Fatah-ruled West Bank.

    The rift between Hamas and Fatah deepened in June 2007 when Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and seized control of the coastal strip.

    Instead of calling for elections, Abbas and Fatah should "seek a way for reconciling with Hamas," al-Hayya added.

    Hamas said it has reservations on the Egyptian offer and that Cairo has refused to listen to them.

    Al-Hayya called on Fatah to ask Egypt to discuss the reservations with Hamas, adding that Hamas will sign the Egyptian document as soon as its concerns are reconsidered.

    In the meantime, he denied reports that Mahmoud Zahar, a Gaza-based Hamas official, will visit Cairo to discuss the reconciliation offer, adding that Zahar only passed through Egypt on his way to Syria.