Mohammed Al-Hindi, a member of Islamic Jihad politburo, said in a press statement that the movement “will not participate in the unity government in accordance with the Cairo announcement” since the Islamic Jihad “does not join any of Palestinian Authority’s institutions that were established in accordance with Oslo Accords.”

“Ending the differences between Fatah and Hamas on the government, elections and security is an important move. But the deal does not form a national reference that the Islam Jihad calls for,” Al-Hindi said.

Fatah and Hamas representatives on Wednesday signed a preliminary agreement on all controversial issues including the elections, reformation of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the formation of the interim government in Cairo.

For its part, the Israeli government decided to hold off any contact with the incoming national unity government.

Israeli government sources said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak took the decision following a series of consultations on late Thursday.

Mark Regev, spokesman of Netanyahu’s office, said will not hold any contacts with the Palestinian Authority (PA) if the latter is “related in any way with Hamas.”