RAMALLAH, West Bank — Prime Minister Blair’s hopes of inspiring a breakthrough in the Middle East were dashed yesterday when Hamas rejected his conditions for any future talks with the group, which rules the Palestinian Arab government.

Mr. Blair, who has refused to meet members of the Hamas-led government during his visit, said Britain would talk to Hamas if it joined a new Palestinian Arab government of national unity that renounced violence and recognized Israel. He encouraged other Western governments to do the same.

But Mr. Blair’s offer was immediately rejected by Hamas, which said that, although it was ready to form a government with the moderate group Fatah, it would be on its own terms — “not according to standards that are dictated.”

A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, added: “I want to renew our rejection of these [Western] decisions because we consider them as biased, unjust, and conditional decisions. Hamas supports the creation of a national unity government, put in place for the Palestinian people and not for powers abroad,” he added.

Mr. Blair and his aides were keen to present his visit as a success, not least to distract from Labour’s domestic travails. He insisted that he intended to return to the region before he stepped down, saying that attempts to negotiate peace in the region would be “as important as any other priority to me in the time that remains for me in office.”

His attempts to play the statesman’s role in the Middle East claimed a small success in the long-paralyzed negotiation process when both the moderate Palestinian Arab leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and Prime Minister Olmert of Israel consented to hold talks “without preconditions.” The two have not met since Mr. Olmert succeeded Ariel Sharon earlier this year.

“We signal our readiness to resume serious negotiations that put an end to the conflict and an end to the cycle of violence,” Mr. Abbas told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah following talks with Mr. Blair. No timetable for the talks was set, however, and the timing of the announcement betrayed a strong element of stage management.

Israel has never officially talked to Hamas, and no government contacts have occurred between Israel and the moderate Mr. Abbas since militants linked to Hamas killed two Israeli soldiers and kidnapped another in June near the border with Gaza.

The cross-border raid sparked huge Israeli incursions into Gaza and arrests of Palestinian Arab MPs and ministers. More than 250 Palestinian Arabs, including 44 children, have died in the Gaza Strip in the past four weeks alone, Mr. Abbas said yesterday.

The kidnapping of two other soldiers by the Lebanese Shiite militia, Hezbollah, then sparked the 34-day war in Lebanon.

The suspension of European Union and other outside subsidies had left 165,000 people without wages for six months, Mr. Abbas said, while strikes have broken out in Gaza.

The head of the more moderate Fatah Party, Mr. Abbas, is struggling to create a coalition administration to end the Palestinian Arabs’ international isolation. He visited Gaza yesterday to “complete the consultation to establish the new government,” although many are skeptical that a deal can be reached.

The two conditions articulated by Mr. Blair — that Hamas reject violence and recognize Israel’s right to exist — are the core requirement of the American government, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations, who are overseeing the Middle East peace negotiations.

“If such a government is formed, I believe it is right that the international community deal with such a government,” Mr. Blair said.