Hamas has to renounce "any and all" claims to govern Gaza before there can be any reconciliation between the Palestinian factions, Salam Fayad, the Prime Minister of the two-month-old emergency Palestinian administration in Ramallah, said yesterday.

The tough conditions laid down by Mr Fayad will be taken as a clear rebuff for recent international calls for early dialogue between Fatah and Hamas in the wake of June's bloody infighting when Hamas seized internal control of Gaza by force after 100 lives were lost in a single week. A group of European foreign ministers - including those from France, Italy and Spain - as well as the British Foreign Affairs Committee have urged such talks.

Mr Fayad also called for the disbandment of all "armed militias", which he said was incompatible with the process of building a Palestinian state. While he did not name the militias, it appeared to include the Hamas Executive Force, which is largely responsible for maintaining order and internal security in Gaza.

Also showing some frustration that Israel is not moving faster and further in talks on easing checkpoints and closures needed to revive the deeply depressed West Bank economy, or in progress towards a final settlement of the conflict, Mr Fayad said that a recent remark by the Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, that it would take five years to withdraw from the West Bank was "disturbing, most discouraging and a matter of serious concern".

Mr Fayad said that his demand for Hamas to abandon any claim to "legitimacy" as the authority in Gaza did not mean the annulment of the 2006 elections, which Hamas won and which he acknowledged had been fair, or Hamas's right to retain its majority in the legislative council.

Hamas had held a number of key ministries and the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, accepted Ismail Haniyeh as prime minister until he dismissed him and formed the emergency administration under Mr Fayad in mid-June.

But Mr Fayad made it clear that Hamas would have to accept that decision before any dialogue on any possibility of another coalition could be revived - a demand which Hamas shows no sign of fulfilling.