Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said Wednesday he believes Hamas understands why it should not be part of a new government in the Palestinian territories.

Maliki told a press conference that a "technocratic" government was needed, without the Islamist group which is fighting a bitter war against Israel.

"The time now is not for a national coalition government," Maliki said.

"The time now is not for a government where Hamas will be part of it, because, in this case, then it will be boycotted by a number of countries, as happened before," he told the UN correspondents' association.