Strike by Palestinian workers near end -official

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Dec 17 (Reuters) Palestinian government employees will return to work this week under a deal to end a more than three-month-old strike over unpaid wages, a top union official involved in the negotiations said today.

The agreement, which has yet to receive final approval, comes amid growing fears of civil war after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called for new elections, infuriated the ruling Hamas faction.

Hamas took control of the Palestinian Authority in March after beating Fatah in parliamentary polls, prompting Western countries to cut off aid to the government because it is officially sworn to Israel's destruction.

Government workers have been on strike since September, demanding wages that have not been paid in full since Hamas came to power.

''The president has told us that the present situation is deteriorating and the Palestinians cannot endure more,'' the union official said.

Under the deal, which is expected to be signed later on Sunday, workers will be given assurances from Abbas and the Hamas-led government that they will receive partial salary payments within days and full wages starting next month.

The agreement will apply to tens of thousands of government workers in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, the union official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal has yet to be signed.

Once ratified, the deal calls for government workers to return to work later this week.

Palestinian public school teachers have already gone back to work under a previous deal.

It is unclear where the money will come from to cover workers' salaries.

Hamas has said it received aid pledges from Iran, Qatar and Sudan. But that money would cover only a portion of the wage bill and it is unclear whether Israel, which controls the borders, will let the money in.

Israel prevented Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas from entering Gaza last week with 35 million dollar in cash, although Western diplomats said the money could be redirected to Abbas to get around the sanctions.

Last month, some 40,000 Palestinian teachers and other education sector employees agreed to end their strike after receiving similar assurances of downpayments on their salaries.

Government offices have been shuttered as a large portion of the government's 165,000 employees went along with the protest.

Most government workers are affiliated to Fatah, which has been locked in an increasingly violent power struggle with Hamas since the group won elections in January.

Reuters SSC GC1827