Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq told Reuters Abbas lacked a national mandate to agree to four months of indirect negotiations sponsored by Washington, although the Arab League had given its approval.
"Mahmoud Abbas has to step aside. The Palestinian people want a solid leadership that leads them to their national rights and not a leadership that offers compromise after compromise," said Rishq, who is a member of Hamas's politburo.
"Resuming these talks is selling illusions to the Palestinian people and playing with their emotions. Eighteen years of talks with Israel have achieved zero. What is there to expect from an extra four months?"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday Israel hoped to begin indirect negotiations with the Palestinians next week during a visit by George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy.
Palestinian officials said they wanted the US-mediated talks to focus initially on defining the borders of a state they hope to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Rishq said Palestinians would not be closer to realizing their aspirations for independence because Abbas had ruled out "resistance" as a tool of struggle with Israel.
"If we don't have options, Israel will be tempted to mount more aggression and further refuse to give us any of our rights," said Rishq. "The decision to go back to the talks gives the Israeli enemy the cover to continue settlements. There will not be anything left to negotiate on," he added.
Abbas has balked at direct talks with Israel until it stops settlement construction totally. He called Netanyahu's announcement in November of a limited moratorium insufficient.
Rishq did not rule out Hamas agreeing to talks with Israel if they were conducted according to terms that would realize Palestinian rights. But he said there was a "US-Israeli veto" that Abbas was following to prevent reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.
Moreover, Taher Al-Nunu, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said that Abbas was pressuring the Arab countries to support negotiations with Israel without halting settlement activity and without any commitment to Palestinian rights.
He added in a statement to Quds Press on Wednesday that Abbas and his Ramallah authority want to give away Palestinian rights, "a thing that we will never permit".
The negotiations would only beautify Israel's image, Nunu said, charging Abbas with attempting to offer concessions with Arab cover.
Anything that results from those negotiations would not be binding to the Palestinian people, the spokesman underlined, adding that those embarking on negotiations represent an isolated group of our people and almost all Palestinian factions had rejected those talks.
Islamic Jihad had issued a statement condemning the Arab follow up committee's endorsement of four months of negotiations with Israel, saying that the position only served the "criminal enemy" and encouraged it to go ahead in its policy of settlement, annexation and expansion at the expense of our people, land and holy shrines.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) also rejected it outright.
DAHLAN AGAINST TALKS: ISRAEL JUST WANTS TO GAIN TIME
On Thursday evening, Fatah Central Committee spokesman Mohammad Dahlan said "In light of Israel's acts, in particular the continued settlement and aggression against holy sites, there is no point to direct or indirect negotiations with the Israeli government."
Speaking to the Palestinian news agency Ma’an, Dahlan said, "If America's behavior was an attempt at gaining time without results, it fits Netanyahu's strategy, which is to gain time while making a show of negotiating. We are sick of the current situation, of negotiation in the shadow of the occupation, which has been going on since 2000."
Another Palestinian source expressed doubt about Israel's intentions, and referred to the Arab League decision, which enabled the Palestinians to 'get down from the tree' and return to the negotiating table.
"The decision has landed the Palestinians with a problem and a challenge," he said. "Up till now we have followed a policy according to which there is no point negotiating for the sake of negotiating, which indicated a certain change in the Palestinian leadership. However, another negotiating failure will lead to a complete collapse of belief in negotiations."
US Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell is due to arrive in Israel on Saturday evening. He will talk with Israeli and Palestinian officials on Sunday and return to Washington on Monday, and not wait for the arrival of Vice President Joe Biden, expected Monday evening.
Judging by Mitchell's whistle-stop visit, it seems the Obama administration holds little hope that it will be possible to announce renewed talks immediately.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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