Top Hamas leaders said today that the militant Islamic group was calling off cease-fire talks with Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, a move that poses a direct challenge to the current Middle East peace plan.

The statements by the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip came a day after Israeli troops killed two Hamas members in a shootout in the West Bank.

It also followed criticism by Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, of Mideast peace talks between Mr. Abbas and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel convened in Aqaba, Jordan, on Wednesday by President Bush.

Under the peace plan, known as the road map, the Palestinians are obligated to stop violence against Israel, and Mr. Abbas has been trying to negotiate a truce with Hamas and other groups responsible for bombing and shooting attacks.

Further talks were expected this weekend, but Hamas said it was calling off the negotiations with Mr. Abbas after Wednesday's summit meeting in Jordan.

At the Aqaba talks, Mr. Abbas, commonly known as Abu Mazen, called for an end to the ``armed intifada,'' or uprising.

Hamas leaders said they rejected this as a ``surrender'' to Israel, and they also cited the Israeli military operation against Hamas members on Thursday night in the West Bank village of Attil. The Israeli Army said it killed two militants and arrested a third when they refused to surrender.

``We have stopped the dialogue with the Palestinian Authority,'' Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, told Reuters. ``This is our choice and we have no alternative.''

Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a senior Hamas official, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying in Gaza: ``We were shocked when we saw Abu Mazen and his new government giving up all the Palestinians' rights. Abu Mazen committed himself in front of Bush and Sharon to very dangerous issues that closed the door of dialogue between us.''

Other Hamas officials said they would meet on Saturday with Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group, to persuade it to break off truce talks as well.

Hamas has never recognized Israel, and says it is fighting for the destruction of the Jewish state. Hamas has carried out more bombings than any other Palestinian group in the current Mideast fighting, which began in September 2000.

The group carried out four suicide bombings in a three-day span from May 17 to 19, with the first attack coming just hours before Mr. Abbas and Mr. Sharon held a crucial meeting.

Hamas supporters staged three rallies in Gaza this afternoon, with demonstrators carrying green Hamas flags and posters denouncing the summit talks.

The peace plan calls on the Palestinian leadership to rein in militants. Israel says a cease-fire would be welcome, though it stresses that Mr. Abbas will ultimately have to meet the criteria set in the peace plan, which specifies that militant groups must be dismantled and disarmed.

The plan also calls for Israel to gradually pull back its troops from Palestinian areas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Mr. Abbas is also trying to persuade Islamic Jihad and another militant group, Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, to agree to a cease-fire. So far, neither has formally accepted the proposal.

On Thursday Mr. Arafat dismissed a pledge by Mr. Sharon to begin dismantling ``unauthorized outposts'' on the West Bank, saying, ``Unfortunately, he has not yet offered anything tangible.''

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