GAZA CITY (AFP) -- Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas urged Israel to respond favorably to a U.S. security plan, setting the stage for a possible new confrontation with his senior coalition partner Hamas that has rejected the plan. "We think that there are important steps in this plan to stabilize security and end the suffering of our people," Abbas told a meeting of his Fatah party in Gaza. "We ask Israel to respond favorably to this plan."

It marked the first public comments by Abbas on the initiative, part of increased efforts by Israel's main ally Washington in recent months to jumpstart peace talks that have been stalled for six years.

The president's statement was directly at odds with the position of Hamas, which on Friday firmly rejected the plan, that called for an end to rocket fire in exchange for eased restrictions on Palestinian movement.

"The president should convene Palestinian factions and not decide anything without agreement," warned Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum.

Hamas's exiled political chief Khaled Meshaal called the plan a "joke" on Friday and blasted "certain of other brothers in the heart of the Palestinian Authority" who welcomed it.

The document, details of which were published by Israel's Haaretz daily on Friday, sets out a timeline for implementing steps on security and movement.

The proposed steps include Israel lifting restrictions on Palestinian movement and the Palestinians deploying forces to prevent the launching of rockets that are often fired by Gaza-based militants into the Jewish state.

It also calls for moves to bolster security services loyal to Abbas, who for months engaged in deadly clashes with Hamas troops before a unity cabinet put a lid on the simmering factional tensions on March 17.

The Hamas-Fatah clashes killed dozens of Palestinians in Gaza between mid-December and February, when Abbas and Meshaal agreed to form a unity government.

Hamas rejected the American proposal, saying the "abject" proposal imposed concessions on the Palestinians and not on Israelis.

"The plan does not talk about either the rights or the suffering of the Palestinian people... but the easing (of measures) in exchange for a stop to the resistance," Barhum said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday that his government was examining the U.S. proposals.

"The ideas are being examined and Israel's position will be agreed upon soon," said a statement from his office following a meeting with visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. "Nevertheless the prime minister said that parts of the proposals are already being implemented."

An official in Olmert's office had previously told AFP that the Jewish state would not be able to implement several of the recommendations because of security concerns.