Mideast talks suspended following Palestine's plans to reunite rival factions

And turning now to the Middle East.
Israel has suspended U.S.-moderated peace talks... one day after Palestine's... Mahmoud Abbas government, agreed to reunite with its rival... Hamas.
An official statement by Israel said it will not hold negotiations with a government backed by a *quote* "terror organization, that calls for Israel's destruction."
Israel, the U.S. and the EU... regard Hamas as a terrorist group... in part for the near-daily attacks it has aimed at Israel from the Gaza Strip.
This past Monday,... a surprise unity pact was reached between the dominant Fatah faction and the Islamist Hamas group,... the first move of its kind in years.