GAZA CITY, Aug 13: Hardline Palestinian groups said on Tuesday there would be no immediate end to attacks inside Israel despite calls by Palestinian officials, although in a new lull in the violence, Israel and the Palestinians prepared to resume contacts.

The hardliners’ refusal to heed a call by an inter-factional committee for a partial truce came as Israel piled more pressure on militants, approving a measure to deport their relatives and preparing to open the trial of a leading figure of the intifada.

The Hamas and its smaller rival, Islamic Jihad, effectively dashed truce hopes when they said their policy of attacks inside Israel was unchanged.

“Hamas will not accept any document that does not give it the right of resistance on all Palestinian lands,” Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab said. Asked if the resistance included the use of suicide bombings, he said it did.

A Palestinian official had hinted on Monday that Hamas might agree to halt kamikaze operations, as part of a document which has been discussed by all the Palestinian factions and focusing on forging a united leadership.

“There is no change in our position in regard to the resistance,” top Jihad leader Mohammed al-Hindi warned, adding that the document being discussed by the factions did not specifically refer to a halt to attacks inside Israel.

The rejection of any halt to suicide bombings in the short term was set to cast a shadow over an imminent resumption of talks between the Palestinians and Israel.

The United States said on Monday it hoped the meetings would lead to rapid progress between Palestinians and Israelis, especially on the security track.

Despite the hardliners’ rejection of a truce, a senior official in Yasser Arafat’s Fatah insisted the talks were still continuing and said “there are more points of common ground than differences” between the Palestinian factions.

“Yes, there is still conflict over the resistance operations, where, when and how it should be, but at the same time there is no final decision from Hamas. This dialogue will continue,” Sakher Habash said.

As Israel stepped up its legal offensive against Palestinian groups, its army also continued its operations on the ground.

TRIAL: Israel said on Tuesday it would charge a popular leader of the Palestinian uprising with murder, but its bid to deport relatives of militants was blocked for two weeks by the country’s highest court.