The Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas) which controls Gaza Strip on Wednesday said the UN Security Council's decision to support peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was nonsense.

The UN Security Council's decision "is meaningless and has no value since it did not endorse actual and practical decisions to end settlements in West Bank and lift Gaza Strip's blockade," Hamas said in a statement sent to the press.

The UNSC adopted a US-Russian draft resolution supporting the 13-month-old Middle East peace talks as Israel prepares to hold general elections and the Palestinians' internal split is wider as Hamas seeks to withdraw recognition of Abbas as a president and replace him with one of its leaders in January.

"Instead of supporting a fake peace process, the Security Council should have taken decisions to prosecute the Zionist war criminals who killed our people," Hamas' statement added.

On Tuesday, the PNA's presidency welcomed the UNSC resolution.

Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and seized Gaza Strip last year. Since then, Israel tightened economic restriction on the territory in a bid to isolate Hamas.

(Xinhua News Agency December 17, 2008)