Hamas takes over Palestinian parliament
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-18 21:32

HAMAS TO PRESENT PLAN

Hamas officials have said the group will soon present an initiative to parliament including a proposal for a long-term truce with Israel if it withdraws from land captured in the 1967 Middle East war and which Palestinians seek for a state.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reacts during the swearing-in of the new Palestinian parliament at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah February 18, 2006. Hamas took over as the dominant party in the Palestinian parliament on Saturday and President Mahmoud Abbas challenged the militant Islamist group to recognise peace deals with Israel and maintain a truce. [Reuters]

But the group has repeatedly said it will not rescind its call for Israel's destruction or recognize the Jewish state.

Israel's cabinet will consider on Sunday whether to impose tough new measures against the Hamas-led government, possibly banning labourers and goods from entering Israel from Gaza.

Israeli officials said a decision would only be taken once Hamas assumes control of parliament and sets out its policies.

"Our intention is to make it clear that Israel will not be dealing with a terrorist organization called Hamas," said Gideon Meir, a senior official of Israel's Foreign Ministry.

Abbas said any new restrictions on the Palestinians would amount to "blackmail."

The United States, which has asked the Palestinian Authority to return $50 million in aid to prevent it from reaching Hamas, cautioned Israel against taking any measures that would make life difficult for the Palestinians.

But Washington and its allies have urged nations to boycott Hamas, which has masterminded nearly 60 suicide attacks against Israel since a 2000 uprising, unless it disarms and recognizes the Jewish state and past peace deals.

Neither the Palestinians nor Israel have met commitments under a U.S.-backed peace "road map" which demands a freeze in expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and a start to the disarming of militant groups.

Hamas, which has largely adhered to a truce for the past years, has refused to give up its weapons.

In a sign of the internal unrest that a Hamas-led government will also have to deal with, about 400 gunmen from a Fatah militia protested outside the hall where parliamentarians met in Gaza. They were demanding unpaid salaries.