Ceasefire scuttled
Talks in Cairo aiming to secure a ceasefire between Palestinians and Israelis have ended in failure, as militant groups balked at embracing a wide-ranging truce.
Militant Islamic group Hamas said there would be no final joint communique pledging unconditional ceasefire.
The thirteen factions attending the talks failed to broker an agreement that would stop attacks against all Israelis.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other factions said they could only back an end to violence against Israeli civilians but not Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers on occupied land.
Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal said: “Our final response along with the four other factions is we are not ready to declare a new ceasefire.”
The talks were seen as a step along the way to rekindling the “road map” for peace in the Middle East. The road map charters the founding of a Palestinian state in 2005.
The talks were also the groundwork for the meeting between Israel Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Quriea.
Mr Sharon’s spokesman Raanan Gissin said the factions were shooting themselves in the foot by “undermining” plans for Palestinian statehood.
Israel said any “halfway measure” would be a “non-starter.”
