Special Report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts

    GAZA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- A Hamas lawmaker on Wednesday revealed that six obstacles have prevented the Palestinian negotiators from declaring a reconciliation agreement in the first round of talks that ended this week.

    Mushier al-Massri, a Gaza-based Hamas legislator, said the main obstacle was that the sought government must accept the international demands of recognizing Israel.

    Other obstacles, according to al-Massri, include the Palestinian National Authority's (PNA) "decision-making policy which is instable due to external pressure, the full dependence on the politicized foreign funds and the attempts by some people to foil the dialogue according to their personal interests."

    Al-Massri added the continued crackdown by PNA's forces against Hamas supporters in the West Bank contributed to the crisis.

    Hamas and Fatah have been arresting their political dissidents in their won ruling area since Hamas routed Fatah and seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

    The inter-Palestinians talks are aimed to reconcile the Islamic Hamas movement, which won the parliamentary elections in 2006, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement by forming a unity government and reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

    To boost the reconciliation, the factions also agreed on holding elections on their due time in January 2010.

    Meanwhile, Ismail Radwan, a Hamas spokesman, called on Fatah to "soften its stance on the controversial issues," affirming that Hamas will not recognize any platform of any government that include the recognition of Israel.

    The factions raised the outstanding issues to a higher committee in order to follow them up. The committee is made up of the leaders of the Palestinian groups and the Egyptian mediators.