Israel formally ended the peace talks in response to the unity agreement between Hamas and the Fatah-dominated PLO. Prime minister Netanyahu argued that Mahmoud Abbas had chosen to ally himself to a terrorist group sworn to destroy Israel.
The Israeli coalition faced a crisis. The pro-settler party Bayit Hayehudi threatened to leave the coalition if the release of 30 Palestinian prisoners, promised for March 2014, went ahead. The liberal Yesh Yatid party threatened to leave the coalition unless negotiations were extended beyond the April 29 deadline.
The Hamas-Fatah agreement averted the crisis within the Israeli coalition, enabling both parties to put the blame on the Palestinians, not on Netanyahu.
Palestinian President Abbas then announced his intention to apply to join fifteen international conventions, contrary to his previous undertaking.