Abbas 'to call referendum on recognising Israel'

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told delegates from various factions today that efforts aimed at getting the Hamas government to implicitly recognise Israel have failed to produce agreement and he will now call a national referendum on the issue.

Khalda Jara, of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian, cited Abbas as telling participants at the meeting, including representatives from Hamas that, “the dialogue has ended without results and we have no choice but to go ahead with a referendum”.