Secretary of State John Kerry plans to resume his push for Israeli-Palestinian talks after a pause of several months, aides to the secretary said, even as questions mount over Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s actions.
 

Kerry came under heavy political fire this week  following reports that he warned Israel is in danger of becoming an “apartheid” regime if it fails to reach agreement with the Palestinians on a “two-state solution” with an Israeli and Palestinian nation living side-by-side and in peace.
 

Aides to Kerry expressed confidence that the long-term need for peace would eventually convince both sides they have no choice to resume peace negotiations. But this optimism bumps up against reality on the ground – in particular, the agreement between Abbas and the jihadist Hamas organization to form a unity government and hold elections in the next six months.
 

Israel strongly objects to the inclusion of Hamas. The Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated group, which rules Gaza, has carried out scores of suicide bombings and other attacks over the past few decades and remains committed to Israel’s destruction.

Neither outcome appears very likely. Just days after Abbas declared he would not recognize  Israel as a Jewish state, Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli organization that monitors the Palestinian media, reported that the ostensibly moderate Fatah posted on its Facebook page a declaration that its unity with Hamas was the unity between two terrorist groups.
 

“Men’s shoulders were created only to carry rifles. Either we will be mighty above the earth or we will be bones in it,” it read. “We will not surrender; we will win or die”.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal vowed Wednesday – one week after signing the unity pact with Abbas – that he will continue the holy war against Israel.

 

“Our path is resistance and the rifle, and our choice is jihad,” he said, adding that Palestinians need a joint strategy that will lead to the “liberation of our lands and holy sites and the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes.”
 

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities announced they had arrested seven members of a Hamas terrorist cell  planning to carry out attacks in Israel. They included one Israeli Arab and West Bank Palestinians, who focused on acquiring homemade explosives and firearms to stage attacks.