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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.
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