GAZA, (PIC)-- Senior Hamas official Salah Al-Bardawil said Tuesday that the US efforts to launch indirect Palestinian-Israeli peace talks are frivolous attempts aimed to undermine the national reconciliation.

“We are fully aware of this cunning game which they call ‘indirect negotiations’ and we know well the difference between the reconciliation as a national need for facing the enemy, and this is what we strive for, and the reconciliation as a means to strengthen the position of negotiators to make more concessions, and this is what we will not be dragged into,” Bardawil highlighted.

The Hamas official also ruled out that the moves made by US envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell could make a real breakthrough in the peace process leading to the restoration of the usurped Palestinian lands.

“We are confident that George Mitchell will try as others have done before and his attempts will be culminated with failure,” the official stressed.

He also underlined that part of the these attempts is aimed to wedge another nail in the coffin of the national reconciliation, citing the remarks made on Monday by Israeli war minister Ehud Barak that the reconciliation was gone forever.

“They dragged the Palestinian Authority down to the lowest level and made it accept indirect negotiations at a time of (escalating) Zionist arrogance against the holy sites and the Palestinian people, so he (Barak) is happy with this outcome and with the political intoxication of Mahmoud Abbas and his entourage,” the official said.