Hamas says Israeli-Palestinian talks meaningless unless it approves

Aug 20, 2007, 12:03 GMT

Gaza - The Islamic Hamas movement on Monday played down reports of progress in talks between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Any political agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was 'meaningless if Hamas doesn't approve it,' Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

'The discussions between the Israeli occupation and the (Palestinian) Authority are just bids to reach joint understandings without the minimum commitment by Israel,' according to Zuhri.

Local Palestinian media had earlier reported that Abbas and Olmert have made good progress during secret talks on a declaration of principles, which they hope to present at an international conference on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute slated to be held in November this year.

Peace contacts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, frozen for months, have been accelerated since Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led unity government and replaced it with a new administration after the Islamist movement staged a violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June.

Israel had refused to deal with any Palestinian government which contained representatives from Hamas, which rejects the Jewish state's right to exist in favour of an Islamic state from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River.

As a result the peace process stalled after Hamas formed a government early last year, following its victory in the January 2006 Palestinian legislative elections.

The formation of an ultimately short-lived national unity government in March this year, which included ministers from Abbas' secular Fatah party, did not succeed in restarting Israeli- Palestinian peace talks.

However, Olmert and Abbas have met several times since the unity government broke up, and according to Israeli reports are set to meet again next week and the week after, although no specific dates have been set.