Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will not attend the regional peace summit scheduled to take place in November if Israel doesn’t accept a binding agreement that would be finalized at the conference, Abbas’ aides said Monday.

Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert said Sunday that he and Abbas haven’t reached an agreement of principles as media speculated, adding that a declaration will be more suitable and he is currently discussion this option with the Palestinian leader.

That statement sparked the anger of Palestinian officials, who said they will not participate at the summit organized by the United States if the Jerusalem government doesn’t change its attitude.

“If Olmert says there'll just be a declaration, it's not worth going to this meeting in Washington. It's better even not to hold it,” Nimr Hamad, an adviser to Abbas said, adding, “Not only him, but none of the Arabs will go.”

Both statements triggered a new wave of controversy that is sweeping the region just a day before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will arrive in the Middle East in order to prepare the ground for the November meeting.

Rice’s three-day visit is the second since Hamas took over Gaza in June and President Bush announced the peace conference nearly two months ago.

After Hamas gunmen ousted Fatah security forces from the salient, Abbas formed a caretaker government in the West Bank and appointed renown economist Salam Fayyad as prime minister.

Know being the radical policy of Hamas, Israel refused to negotiate an ending to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the former joint government formed last year with Fatah. But after Abbas established a new administration, Jerusalem officials resumed peace talks with their Ramallah counterparts, who are supported by most members of the international community.

A considerable period has passed since Bush announced the conference, but an exact date, location or agenda failed to appear to this very day. Media speculations and different opinions expressed by officials from Israel and the West Bank were the only news related to the upcoming summit.

Arab states supported Abbas’ point of view and said it will be a waste of time to attend a conference which doesn’t have a conclusive program and firm targets.

Abbas said only an agreement on core issues of the dispute would be accepted by his side, but Olmert refrained from giving his approval for a firm deal, saying a “declaration of intent” would be more suitable at the moment.

“We are talking about a joint statement which we hope will be the focus of the international summit in November,” Israeli media quoted Olmert as saying during a Kadima party meeting held Sunday.

“There is a difference between an agreement on principles and a declaration of intent,” he said referring to the media reports which indicated both sides have reached an “agreement of principles” which remains to “polished.”

Once again, Hamas criticized both Israel and the West Bank administration for trying to undermine its authority through these discussions. The Islamic organization also said that the conference would be nothing but “certain failure.”

“The Palestinian negotiator is in his weakest position and won't achieve anything for his people or cause,” a statement release by Hamas said.