The Bush administration has proposed holding a conference in the U.S. in November to discuss the issues that are preventing progress in the Israel-Palestinian peace talks, and to pave the way for the creation of a Palestinian state.
"It is obvious to everyone that the conference will end in failure," Kuwait's news agency KUNA quotes Hamas as saying. "No conference will help us liberate eastern Jerusalem or expedite the release of the [Palestinian] prisoners in Israeli prisons and the return of refugees to their homeland."
Hamas said in a document made public Monday that Palestinians had two weapons available in the struggle for their rights - resistance and national unity. Any talks with Israel would only exacerbate the situation in the region if unity is not restored in the Palestinian National Authority, which split in June into two factions: the Gaza Strip controlled by Hamas, and the West Bank under Fatah rule.
Amid hostilities between the warring factions in June Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas dissolved the Hamas-dominated government and established a new Cabinet following Hamas' seizure of Gaza.
