A spokesman of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement accused on Thursday the ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) of boycotting ongoing talks among Palestinian factions over a plan that implicitly recognizes Israel.

Ahmed Abdel Rahman also said that the Hamas boycott would have a negative impact on the talks as well as the Palestinian national interests.

"Hamas is trying to avoid the talks due to what it said its own reasons," said Abdel Rahman, adding "Hamas, in fact, attempts to avoid reaching a national consensus and it doesn't want to accept the plan at all."

"However, Hamas will have to face the factions' consensus on the plan," said Abdel Rahman.

The plan, also known as the Prisoners' Document because it was drafted by Palestinian leaders jailed by Israel, supports resistance against the Israeli occupation as well as a negotiated settlement with the Jewish state.

It also calls for the formation of a Palestinian national unity government and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the Gaza Strip and West Bank with East Jerusalem as capital if Israel withdraws to borders before the 1967 Mideast war.

The proposal is widely seen as recognizing Israel implicitly.

On May 25, Abbas, in a surprise move, announced that he would call a referendum on the plan if Palestinian factions including Hamas and Fatah failed to agree on it within 10 days.

Subsequent talks have been held under the auspices of Abbas during the past few days, but Hamas did not attend any of the meetings.

Earlier, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza said, "Hamas representatives are absent from the talks because they cannot go through Israeli checkpoints to reach the meeting venue in (the West Bank city of) Ramallah. So we want talks to be held here in Gaza."

Israel prohibits Gaza-based Hamas officials from traveling to the West Bank.

Some senior members in Hamas, which calls for Israel's destruct, have recently voiced reservation about the plan.

Hamas, which defeated Abbas' Fatah movement in the January legislative polls, formed a new Palestinian government in late March.

Supporters of Hamas and Fatah have clashed in the Palestinian territories over control of the security forces.

Source: Xinhua