Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas suffered a blow after Fatah party candidates fared poorly in local elections in the West Bank on Saturday.

Israel is gearing up for another mass demonstration and potential incursions along its borders on Friday, as thousands are expected to take part in the "Global March to Jerusalem". Organisers expect demonstraters to arrive from all over the world.

Israel will deploy more than 2,000 border police throughout the West Bank to stave off disturbances.

The agreement between Fatah and Hamas for a Palestinian unity government, to be headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, almost certainly signals the end of the short-lived attempt to re-launch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

The prospect of a unity deal between Hamas and Fatah have been further undermined after a high-level Hamas official accused President Mahmoud Abbas of being disinterested in striking one.

Mahmoud Zahar, a leading spokesman for Hamas, said the Palestinian leader was "not interested in achieving" a deal.

The Palestinian president is to meet the Hamas leader today in Cairo to discuss the future of co-operation between the two rival groups.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue to withhold more than £63 million in Palestinian Authority tax money because of the latest attempts to establish a unity agreement between Fatah and Hamas.

The Obama Administration is trying to restart the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians as soon as possible, before an attempt to gain UN recognition of an independent Palestinian state and to ward off alternative European peace plans.