Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas told the new Hamas-dominated parliament that he would continue working towards a negotiated Middle East peace agreement while urging the international community and Israel not to ‘punish’ voters for electing the radical Islamists.
In his speech at the Ramallah-based parliament's inauguration, Abbas warned the new intake of deputies that there was no military solution to the conflict with Israel -- a state whose right to exist Hamas refuses to recognise.
And he also told the Islamist movement, which is expected to head up a new government in the coming days, that they should respect all previous international agreements signed with Israel.
Ismail Haniya, widely expected to become prime minister, responded by noting ‘differences’ between Hamas and Abbas's political programmes but vowed to resolve any disputes through dialogue.
A senior official for the Israeli government, which has already lined up a range of sanctions, said that the Palestinian Authority would be considered a ‘hostile’ entity unless a Hamas-led government respected the Jewish state's right to exist, renounced violence and recognised past agreements.
‘If they do not accept all three conditions -- which are non-negotiable -- then there's no relationship and they will have defined themselves as a hostile entity,’ the official said speaking on condition of anonymity.
In an early sign of how Israel intends to make life as difficult as possible for the new regime, all Hamas's deputies from the Gaza Strip had to view proceedings in Ramallah via videolink after they were refused permission to travel to the West Bank for the ceremony.
Hamas's sensational election win has also led to threats by the United States and European Union to cut funding if Hamas forms a new government without revoking its political platform aimed at Israel's demise.
However Abbas said the outcome of the January 25 election must be respected.
‘The Palestinian people should not be punished for making their democratic choice. The Palestinian leadership, and I personally, reject this blackmail and appeal to the international community to renounce it.’
But he also stressed that he would continue working towards a peace agreement with Israel regardless of the apparent electoral endorsement of Hamas's hardline approach.
‘The Palestinian Authority presidency and the government remain committed to negotiation as a realistic strategic option.’
Abbas said Hamas should respect agreements such as a stalled peace plan known as the roadmap which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state living in peace alongside a secure Israel.
The blueprint was introduced in 2003 by the ‘quartet’ of the European Union, United States, Russia and the United Nations.
Abbas also stressed that Israel should accept that peace could only come about through negotiations amid expectations that the next Israeli government will try to unilaterally fix the borders.
‘We totally reject (Israel's) unilateral approach and exhort the peace-loving world, namely the quartet and American administration, to make serious, immediate efforts to restart negotiations on the basis of the signed agreements, namely Oslo and the roadmap,’ Abbas declared.
‘There is no military solution to our conflict. Only negotiations between equal partners are able to end the cycle of violence.’
Haniya acknowledged the contradiction between Abbas's approach and that of Hamas, which has carried out dozens of suicide attacks since the Palestinian uprising began in 2000 although none in the last year.
‘These differences about our positions and political programme will be resolved by dialogue and through coordination, in the interests of the Palestinian people,’ Haniya told AFP.
While Haniya has yet to be confirmed as prime minister, parliament did choose Hamas MP and university professor Aziz Duweik as speaker.
Duweik vowed to defend the Palestinians' right to ‘resistance’ in a brief speech after his election.
‘We promise you to work to put an end to the (Israeli) occupation, to defend the just cause of our people and our right to legitimate defence and resistance to the occupation.’
Israel is set to approve at Sunday's cabinet meeting a series of sanctions, including a halt to the payment of customs duties owed to the Palestinian Authority and new travel restrictions.