Middle East: Palestinian Prime Minister Mr Ahmed Korei left Cairo yesterday a disappointed man after Palestinian factions failed to agree a ceasefire, with one of the main points of contention being the demand by the militant Islamic Hamas group that Israel and the US offer guarantees for a truce before they sign on.
"Hamas is not ready to make a comprehensive ceasefire," said a senior movement official, Mr Mohammed Nazzal, after the completion of three days of Egyptian-sponsored talks.
Mr Korei and the Egyptian hosts had hoped the internal Palestinian negotiations would produce a comprehensive ceasefire that would then force Israel to cease its military actions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But the 13 Palestinian factions who participated in the talks remained deeply divided on a number of issues.
Besides Hamas's demand for Israeli guarantees, the Islamic movement and other militant groups also opposed the idea of granting Mr Korei a mandate to negotiate with Israel once they had agreed to a ceasefire. Unlike Mr Yasser Arafat's ruling Fatah party, which backed a comprehensive ceasefire, Hamas and other groups also said they would only halt attacks inside Israel proper, leaving open the question of whether they would still target Jewish settlers and soldiers in the Occupied Territories.
A statement was to be issued by the groups last night on what had been achieved in the talks, but Mr Samir Ghosheh, the head of the Palestinian Struggle Front, said it would not include any "mention of refraining from attacks on civilians, ceasefire or authorizing Abu Ala [Mr Korei]."
The Palestinian premier views a cessation of violence as crucial to reviving the moribund road map peace plan, and has insisted that unlike the last truce declared unilaterally by militant groups at the end of June earlier this year, he will insist on an Israeli commitment to ending its military operations this time round.
But Israel's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Olmert, said yesterday that only if the Palestinians ended "terrorist actions unilaterally" would there be "a basis for further discussion about implementing the road map".
Mr Olmert, though, has little faith in the prospect of reaching an agreement with the Palestinians. In recent days, he has stirred a political storm with his comments that in the absence of a negotiated solution to the conflict, Israel should take unilateral steps that would see it dismantling settlements and withdrawing from most of the West Bank and Gaza. With Palestinians soon to be a majority between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, he said, Israel had to take measures to ensure it remained both Jewish and democratic.
While the Israeli left has long made the demographic argument, Mr Olmert's comments are a sign it is beginning to permeate the right. While Mr Olmert was slammed by far-right politicians, as well as members of his own Likud party, he did get backing yesterday from some of the more moderate Likud members.