Palestinian reconciliation talks in Cairo ended on Tuesday with no discernable progress. The bright spot comes with word that the parties agreed to resume deliberations on May 16 after reviewing new Egyptian proposals. Efforts have centered on creating a unity government that will rule until elections are held in January of next year. But Hamas remains steadfast in its refusal to recognize Israel; renounce violence; or accept commitments of previous governments – the criteria for support and interaction set down by western nations. The Egyptian mediators have tried to create a way to bypass the issue by saying that contacts with the international community would be handled by Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud ‘Abbas. But Hamas is cool to the idea, pointing out that it – and not Fatah – won the last elections and deserves its position atop any government. And it is not clear that the international community would accept the fiction of a double-edged government, only one side of which accepts the three preconditions for acceptance.