Top official says Hamas won't take part in Palestinian government

Hamas will not join the Palestinian government after parliamentary elections in July, even though polls indicate the group would do well in the vote, a senior official said, outlining Hamas' political plans for the first time.

Hamas, which had boycotted elections for the past decade, announced over the weekend that it is competing in the July 17 vote, a major challenge to the Fatah movement of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Nazzal, one of the Hamas delegates in Cairo, said that "our goal is not to reach the (Palestinian) authority or to take the authority because ... we think that the political framework of the Palestinian Authority is a framework that contradicts our policies."

"Our participation in the legislative elections is not our way to take the authority, but it is participation that can lead to a process of monitoring and also helping the Palestinian people," he said in a telephone interview late
Monday.

Nazzal also ruled out Hamas participation in negotiations with Israel.