Rafah, Egypt  - Egyptian security forces on Tuesday prevented a member in the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from crossing into the Gaza Strip carrying some 850,000 dollars in cash, according to an Egyptian security source.

The member, who was not named, was among the delegates leaving Egypt via the Rafah border crossing following the conclusion of a first round of the Cairo-hosted intensive reconciliation talks between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.

Gaza  - The Palestinian Hamas movement on Tuesday blamed Israel for the failure of negotiations for a possible prisoner swap deal and threatened to abduct more Israeli soldiers.

"Israel is the one that hindered Shalit's deal," Hamas said in a statement Tuesday night as Israel announced the failure of negotiations for a deal that would see the release of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for jailed Palestinian militants.

New York - An inquiry into damage inflicted to UN properties and people who may have been killed there during the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is expected to be completed later this month, a UN spokeswoman said Monday.

The investigation by the UN board of inquiry was ordered by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon after the UN suffered extensive damage to its offices and schools for Palestinian children in Gaza as a result of Israeli airstrikes.

Tel Aviv  - Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert postponed a cabinet meeting on a prisoner exchange with Hamas until Tuesday because of continuing negotiations in Cairo.

"It should be emphasized that as of yet, there is no sign that indicates a result in any particular direction in the negotiations," a statement from Olmert said Monday, the day the meeting was scheduled.

The prime minister is seeking to obtain the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit before he leaves office this week.

Gaza  - Egypt has invited the Damascus-based leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to Cairo to join talks aimed at reconciling Palestinian factions and forming a "national unity" government, a Palestinian news agency reported Saturday.

Gaza's Sama news agency quoted "high-ranking Palestinian sources" as saying that Egypt sent official invitations to exiled top Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Ramadan Shallah, chief of Islamic Jihad in Syria, to join the Cairo talks. The two leaders will arrive later this week in Cairo, Sama reported.

Cairo/Berlin  - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has accused some Arab leaders of complicity in Israel's offensive on the Gaza Strip in December and January, according to an audio tape aired by broadcaster al-Jazeera Saturday.

In the recording - which could not be authenticated - bin Laden called Arab leaders "hypocrites" and said that "liberating Jerusalem needed honest Arab leadership."