AUSTIN, February 8, 2008 (WAFA)- Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Thursday a lasting peace accord with Israel was unlikely in 2008 despite renewed diplomatic efforts to resolve the long-running conflict.

In an interview with Reuters in the Texas capital, Austin, where he is on a private visit, he highlighted the lack of progress on the issue of Israeli settlements and military incursions into the West Bank as among the chief obstacles in the "road map" to peace and Palestinian statehood.

"I do not believe though that the final resolution ... will be complete in the course of this year. I don't think that is likely," Fayyad said.

In the interview, Fayyad said: "The short-term track is not moving as well as it needs to for the political process, for negotiations. In particular, the lack of an adequately firm commitment with regard to (Israeli) settlements," he said.

Fayyad repeated his government's criticism of Israeli military incursions into West Bank towns like Nablus in pursuit of Palestinian militants, saying such actions undermined its own efforts to impose law and order.

"Our efforts are undermined, our credibility is undermined particularly in areas where we have made progress," he said.