A Hamas lawmaker on Saturday accused its rival Fatah movement of pushing the Islamic movement to recognize Israel by a series of conditions.

"Fatah tries to draw Hamas to recognize the Israeli occupation by putting pressure on us that the commitments of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) must be respected," said Salah al-Bardaweel.

As Hamas and Fatah hold reconciliation talks in Cairo, the two sides seek to form a unity government in order to settle the widening split between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-ruled West Bank.

Palestinian President Ahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement say that the platform of the government must agree with the commitments of the PLO, but Hamas considers the commitments as indirect recognition of Israel since they opt for peace as the way to settle the conflict with Israel.

"The PLO's and Fatah's recognition of Israel brought nothing but more catastrophes by building settlements and installing roadblocks in West Bank and denying the Palestinian people's rights," al-Bardaweel said.

Since Hamas took over Gaza by force in 2007, the Palestinians have had two governments: Hamas' administration of Gaza and the western-backed government that Abbas formed in the West Bank.

In Cairo, the reconciliation conferees formed committees to settle the controversial issues among Palestinian factions.

While the security, elections and reconciliation committees see some progress, the committees of the government and the PLO face obstacles due to the nature and the program of the unity government.

(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2009)