RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday created a new national security council that includes the radical Hamas movement for the first time.

The council, aimed at restoring order in the increasingly lawless territories, will be headed by Abbas with prime minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas as deputy, a senior Palestinian official told AFP.

It is the first time that Hamas -- the senior partner in the national unity government has a place in the top Palestinian security body which aims to bring all security forces under one umbrella.

The council, which will also include the interior, foreign affairs and justice ministers, will "elaborate political strategies and security plans," the official said.

Its creation was approved by the government on Saturday as part of a plan to restore order and unify the diverse security forces in the territories, which are awash with guns.

The impoverished Gaza Strip is increasingly lawless despite the formation the unity government last month aimed at ending deadly infighting between Hamas and Abbas's secular Fatah movement.