(2 Sep 2010)
1. Wide of Qassam Brigades (Hamas military wing) members walking to news conference
2. Mid of masked Qassam Brigades members holding guns
3. Wide of news conference
4. Close up of gun
5. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Abu Obaida, Qassam Brigades spokesman:
"We reject completely the slipping again from the Ramallah Authority to the useless round of negotiations which make a cover to the Zionist aggression against our people. We will not allow these negotiations to pass over, and resistance will have its loud voice as an answer to the land-selling negotiation."
6. Close up of masked Qassam Brigades member
7. Qassam Brigades members leaving
STORYLINE:
A spokesman for Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said on Thursday that they rejected the Middle East peace talks taking place in Washington, describing them as "useless".
Spokesman Abu Obaida made the statement at a brief news conference in Gaza City, where he was flanked by several other masked men in fatigues.
"We reject completely the slipping again from the Ramallah Authority to the useless round of negotiations which make a cover for the Zionist aggression against our people," Obaida said.
He also warned that "resistance" would follow.
"We will not allow these negotiations to pass over, and resistance will have its loud voice as an answer to the land-selling negotiation," he said.
The Qassam Brigades are the military wing of the Islamic Hamas organisation, which rules in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Leaders from the Middle East are currently meeting in the American capital to try to forge a lasting peace deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have been holding talks with the US administration, assisted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
On Thursday, Netanyahu and Abbas agreed to keep talking and produce a framework for a permanent peace deal.
Hamas is firmly in control of the Gaza Strip, one of the two territories that are supposed to be part of a future Palestinian state.
It wields virtual veto power over any agreement and has given no indication it would be willing to accept a deal with Israel reached by Abbas, who runs a rival government in the West Bank.
Abbas has repeatedly said he will present any peace deal to a national referendum, a vote that would include the people of Gaza. A vote in favour of peace would put heavy pressure on Hamas to accept the will of the Palestinian people.
Thursday's comments by Hamas come after the shooting of four Israeli settlers, including a pregnant woman, near the West Bank city of Hebron.
Hamas has claimed responsibility for the killings, a vivid reminder that the Iranian-backed group may be locked out of the peace negotiations but remains a key player in determining their outcome.
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