The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has reiterated its opposition to any negotiations between Palestinians and the Israeli regime, calling them as “futile.”

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has reiterated its opposition to any negotiations between Palestinians and the Israeli regime, calling them as “futile.”

“We renew our rejection of these futile talks, and consider them purely a means for the occupation (Israel) to look good to the international community,” senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar said at a news conference in Gaza on Monday.

The Palestinian official also criticized Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas and his negotiating team for accepting the idea of talking with the Israeli regime, saying, they “have no legitimacy” to represent the Palestinian people in the talks.

“We call on the Palestinian people to unite in confronting the crime that is the peace talks,” he added.

On Thursday, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said talks between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Israeli regime will resume on August 14 in al-Quds (Jerusalem).

The representatives of Israel and the PA met last month in Washington. The meeting was the first direct negotiations in three years.

Last month, Hamas rejected the US’ proposal for the resumption of talks, saying it “considers the Palestinian Authority’s return to negotiations with the occupation to be at odds with the national consensus.”

The last Palestinian-Israeli talks were halted in September 2010 after Tel Aviv refused to freeze its settlement activities in the West Bank.

Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds, and the Gaza Strip, and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories occupied in the Six-Day War of 1967.

Tel Aviv, however, has refused to return to the 1967 borders and is unwilling to discuss the issue of al-Quds.