Israel warns Fatah against peace dialogue with Hamas

Ramallah: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction ruled out talks with Hamas yesterday as Israel warned any such dialogue with the Islamists could "torpedo" a peace deal with the Jewish state.

Palestinian sources familiar with the matter said members of Hamas and Fatah had discussed holding peace talks, but Fatah leaders said they had not backed any meeting and rejected dialogue with Hamas unless it cedes control of the Gaza Strip, which it seized in fighting with Abbas's forces in June.

"What happened in Gaza was a military coup against legitimacy and against democracy," Abdullah Franji, who is close to Abbas and a member of secular Fatah's central committee, said. "If they retreat then we can talk. Now we cannot."

Conference

Abbas dismissed the Islamist Hamas-led Palestinian government in June after the violence in Gaza, ushering an easing of US and Israeli sanctions and plans for a peace conference next month.

Hamas's Esmail Haniyeh, who was prime minister until June, said late on Wednesday Hamas was ready to hold talks with Fatah and hinted it might be ready to give up control of the enclave.

Israel, which is trying to bolster Abbas and sideline the Islamist group, said talks between the rival factions could "torpedo" efforts ahead of a US-sponsored peace conference to move towards a deal on establishing Palestinian statehood.

"We are concerned that if you ... allow this extreme organisation which is opposed to reconciliation back centre stage you will in fact torpedo any chance of moving forward," Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

Fatah leaders rejected Haniyeh's calls for talks and said Hamas, struggling with the effects of an international boycott and an Israeli blockade of Gaza, was lying about wanting peace so as to shore up Palestinian support.

Palestinian negotiator full of optimism

The Palestinians are ready to yield parts of the West Bank to Israel if compensated with an equal amount of Israeli territory, according to the lead Palestinian negotiator.

In an interview on Wednesday, Ahmad Qureia set out his guidelines for negotiations in advance of a US-sponsored Mideast conference next month. Qureia, a 71-year-old former prime minister who has dealt with five different Israeli prime ministers during 14 years of failed peacemaking, is trying again with No. 6, Ehud Olmert. And he's full of optimism, saying the US-hosted Mideast conference in Annapolis, Maryland, tentatively set for November 26, is a "very, very important opportunity."