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Israel will shun Abbas over Hamas

By · March 24, 2008

Israel threatened to cut off peace talks with Mahmoud Abbas if his Fatah faction joins forces with Hamas.

Jerusalem officials said Monday that should Fatah bury the hatchet with Hamas and invite the Islamists into a new Palestinian Authority coalition government, Israel will suspend U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations.

The warning came as Fatah and Hamas, which have been at loggerheads since the latter seized control of the Gaza Strip last June, held reconciliation talks in Yemen.

But the Israeli assessment is that the Palestinian factions are unlikely to reach a binding pact given Hamas’ refusal of Fatah’s core demand that it give up Gaza and submit to Abbas’ authority.

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