Hamas accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday of imposing what it called unacceptable new conditions for forming a unity government. Abbas is putting conditions on the formation of a new government, including the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian fighters in June and a halt to attacks by Hamas and other groups on Israel, said a Hamas statement sent to Reuters. The statement shows a new rift opening between Abbas’ Fatah group and Hamas, who have been trying to agree on a new government for months. “Mr Abu Mazen (Abbas), has started putting new conditions which were not included in the understandings and agreements we have concluded to form a unity government. The issue of calming down armed resistance was not on the table and should not be raised at this time. Hamas had announced it is ready to stop rocket attacks if Zionist aggression and assassinations stop.”