Israel's defense minister has dismissed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas as a partner for peace, calling him a "one-man show with no substance behind him."
Shaul Mofaz told an Israeli newspaper, Yediot Aharonot, that he sees little chance of peace with the current generation of Palestinian leaders.
His comments come during a week of renewed violence between Israel and Palestinian militants. Five Israelis were killed Wednesday in a suicide bombing, and seven Palestinians, including four Islamic Jihad activists, died Thursday in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat says Israel's problem is with all Palestinians -- not with a particular generation or individuals.
Friday in Gaza, thousands of mourners gathered for the funerals of the seven Palestinians who died in the airstrike. Overnight, Israel launched fresh strikes on uninhabited areas of Gaza, and militants responded with a single rocket that landed on empty land in southern Israel.
Some information for this report provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
