Secret talks between Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority and the militant group Hamas on ending attacks on Israeli civilians have broken down.

Nabil Shaath, a minister in Mr Arafat's government, blamed Hamas for the failure of the talks in Gaza, accusing it of going back on an agreement to form a united Palestinian front.

The bilateral dialogue on halting operations against civilians has stopped

Nabil Shaath Palestinian cabinet minister

"Hamas retracted the document which it had been a major contributor in drafting," he told Palestinian radio.

Mr Shaath said that military operations by Israel could not justify operations against civilians, but stressed that this did not affect "legitimate resistance" within the Palestinian territories.

"No-one calls for ending the intifada or resistance to the occupation of our occupied Palestinian land," he said.

"We only speak about attacking Israeli civilians in operations inside the Green Line [Israel] by Hamas and other factions."

Attacks on Hamas

The veteran Palestinian Authority minister acknowledged that recent Israeli attacks on Hamas targets had hardened the group's stance but he insisted that they were not justification for attacking civilians.

Hamas wants to continue attacks in Israel

In the latest attack, Israeli forces killed the Hamas military leader in Jenin after trapping him in a West Bank village on Wednesday.

A Hamas spokesman promised to avenge Nasser Jarrar's death.

The BBC's Barbara Plett reports from Jerusalem that the talks in Gaza were an attempt to square the circle.

Throughout the intifada, she says, the deeply divided Palestinian factions have been unable to unite around one policy and it is a formidable challenge to forge a consensus which takes in everyone from the secular leftists to the Islamists.