"The differences on the core issues have remained", said an aide to Abbas, speaking about the Islamist party's refusal to recognise Israel and put an end to the armed struggle. Early elections are on the horizon but people fear the parties are stockpiling weapons for an eventual showdown.

Gaza (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Efforts at mediation by Hamad bin Passim, Qatar's foreign minister, failed to resolve a stalemate between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. This has prevented the formation of a unity government and might lead to early elections.

"The differences on the core issues have remained. . . . In the light of tonight's talks it does not seem as if we are closer to an agreement," senior Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo said.

The key obstacles to the formation of a unity government have been Hamas' refusal to participate in any administration that recognises Israel and to renounce armed struggle against the Jewish state.

"We will continue the dialogue over these points but no agenda for a unity government can succeed unless these points are resolved," he said after Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Passim held talks into the early hours of Tuesday morning with Abbas in the Gaza Strip. Earlier in the day he had met with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Damascus.

PNA sources said that Passim had made a six-point proposal that included a government of technocrats. However, for Hamas any agreement has to be based on an amended version of the "Prisoners' Document", penned by Palestinian leaders in Israeli jails, that Hamas agreed to in June. This document calls for negotiations with Israel if the latter pulls back to its 1967 borders.  

Hamas, which rejects suggestions that the deal implied any acceptance of Israel's existence, said that recognition and any end to armed struggle would be futile as long as Israel refuses to withdraw from the disputed territories.

Abbas said that Passim's mediation effort would continue but it was not clear if or when the Qatari leader would return.

Abed Rabbo warned that the "initiative is the last political effort that is being exerted and the opportunity must be seized because the alternative is to hold early elections".

There are fears though that whilst Fatah and Hamas may be openly vying for power, they may also be building up their stockpiles of weapons for a future confrontation. After recent clashes left 12 people dead such a possibility cannot be excluded.

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