The United States dismissed on Thursday Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas' call for immediate talks with Israel and said that the Hamas-led Palestinian government is not a partner for peace.

"But unfortunately there is, on the Palestinian side in terms of the government, not a partner for peace. We have a Hamas-led government, which will not recognize the state of Israel, will not renounce violence, will not renounce terror, and does not recognize the Palestinian Authority's previous commitments," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a briefing.

"We would hope that at some point in the future that Hamas does make the decisions that the international community has called upon it to make that would allow us to get back to the negotiating table," McCormack said.

"But at the moment, that's not where we are," the spokesman said.

McCormack made the remarks after Palestinian officials said earlier Thursday that Abbas was ready to immediately start direct peace talks with the new Israeli government.

It was not clear yet whether Israel would accept the talk initiative.

Israeli Acting Prime Minister, who is to head the next Israeli government, has said that Israeli authorities will have no contact with the militant Hamas.

Source: Xinhua