GAZA, Feb 20: The Hamas began talks with militant groups on Monday on forming a new Palestinian government, but was swiftly rebuffed by Islamic Jihad, which vowed to press on with its fight against Israel.

Two days after becoming the majority bloc in parliament, election winner Hamas assured armed groups that it would not crack down on their fighters despite international pressure.

Hamas said its goal was to establish as broad a coalition as possible as it faced a halt in vital tax funds from Israel and a threatened boycott by major powers if it refused to ‘renounce violence’ and recognise the Jewish state.

During the daylong talks with militants, Hamas signalled its readiness for a long-term truce if Israel withdraws from lands it occupied in the 1967 war.

But the head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service, Yuval Diskin, said a truce alone would be unacceptable and called a Hamas-run state a long-term ‘strategic threat’ to the Jewish state.

In a bid to isolate Hamas, Israel on Sunday halted the transfer of tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The UN special envoy to the Middle East, Alvaro de Soto, called the decision unhelpful and premature. Israel, which has long viewed the United Nations as pro-Palestinian, brushed aside the criticism, saying it was sticking to the funding cutoff.

HELICOPTER OVERHEAD: With an Israeli helicopter gunship circling overhead, a Hamas delegation huddled in Gaza with leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which signalled a willingness to join the new government.