RAMALLAH, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said peace talks with Israel are useless as long as they do not make progress.

    He made the remarks during a prerecorded video message broadcasted to show the Palestinian leader's stance on the fifth day of intensive Israeli aerial offensive against the Gaza Strip.

    "What is the meaning of continuing the negotiations with the doors are closed?" said Abbas, who has often been criticized by his rival, Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), for being interested in the peace talks.

    "There is no benefit to keep on negotiations if their goals are not reached," Abbas added. He reiterated that the 2002 Arab peace initiative, which calls for an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territories in exchange for peace with all Arab nations, would be the cornerstone in settling the conflict.

    Since Saturday, Israel has been pounding hundreds of targets, mostly police and security installations that Hamas seized from pro-Abbas forces in last year's fighting. The ongoing offensive left more than 390 Palestinians killed, including tens of civilians, and wounded some 1,900.

    "This is a massacre and a harsh aggression that doesn't only target Gaza; it targets all the Palestinian people and their simplest rights," according to Abbas, who has been stationed in West Bank after his forces lost Gaza.

    Abbas called again on Hamas and the less influential Islamic Jihad to accept talking on calming the situation down. Tuesday, Hamas rejected a similar call by Abbas, accusing him of being part of the Israeli war against the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave.