JERUSALEM, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Israel said Tuesday that it will not negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes the Islamic Hamas movement, a week after a Palestinian reconciliation deal was signed.
Israel's security cabinet said in a statement that it would acknowledge the agreement reached by the Fatah party and Hamas "only under certain conditions."
The Fatah party, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, signed last week in Cairo, Egypt with Hamas a landmark agreement to return the civilian power in the besieged enclave of Gaza Strip to the Palestinian National Authority.
Under the deal brokered by Egypt, the Palestinian consensus government under Fatah will have full control of the Gaza Strip, ruled by Hamas since 2007, by December 1.
The Israeli cabinet's statement said that Israel will not hold diplomatic talks "with a Palestinian government that relies on Hamas," an Islamist Palestinian movement that Israel, like the majority of the West, considers a terror organization.
The Israeli cabinet demands for Hamas' recognition of the State of Israel, stopping "all terrorist activities" and disarming its forces, in addition to a "full security control of the Gaza Strip, including all border crossings, by the Palestinian Authority."
It also demands for the return of the bodies of fallen Israeli soldiers and civilians which Israel believes are being held by Hamas in Gaza.
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been stalled since April 2014 due to Israel's continued settlement activities on the occupied Palestinian territories.
