The exiled Hamas political chief described recent rocket attacks on Israel as "self defense" and said they were justified, while the camp of the moderate Palestinian president urged the preservation of the five months' truce.
The comments came on Saturday as Hamas' Khaled Mashaal and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were meeting for a second day in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
Their talks were the first since their blocs formed a coalition government last month.
The meetings followed an escalation in Palestinian-Israeli tensions, with a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas earlier in the week that threatened the ceasefire. Egyptian officials were concerned the attacks could sabotage their mediation efforts.
"It's the Palestinians' right to defend themselves," Mashaal said, adding that the attacks came in revenge for the killings of nine Hamas members by Israel.
"These are violations that needed a retaliation," he said.
But Abbas' aide, Nabil Abu Rudeina, who was also in Cairo, said "everybody should abide by" the truce because it is "for the sake of the Palestinian people."
Mashaal also blamed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for allegedly hindering Egyptian mediation efforts to secure the release of abducted Israeli soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Egypt has tried to negotiate Shalit's release for months and has blamed Hamas for failing to conclude the deal.
Mashaal said in Cairo that the Israeli prime minister was "personally behind the delay in the release of the Israeli soldier."
"There were big hopes, but Olmert is responsible for everything," he said without elaborating.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army yesterday denied it was seizing additional land near Jericho in the occupied West Bank for the Jewish state's controversial barrier.
According to a military order on Saturday, the army told the village council in Bardaleh, north of Jericho, that nearly 24 hectares of Palestinian farmland would be confiscated "for security reasons" to extend the barrier, which Israel says stops suicide bombers.
An army spokesman said the order was not for seizure of new land, but an extension of an order issued in 2004.
"The confiscation order that we issued is nothing but a renewal of one that we issued in 2004," he said.
He said those who own or use the land would be able to apply for compensation starting today.
The Palestinian Authority on Saturday called on Israel to cancel the order.
"We strongly condemn this decision and we call on Israel to cancel it," said Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.
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