Hamas reaches deal with Abbas, but keeps hard line

Mahmoud Abbas

GAZA - Hamas reached a political agreement with moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today under the pressure of an international embargo to push it to recognise Israel and soften its line.

But the governing Islamist group -- whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state -- rejected any suggestion that the deal could imply it now accepts Israel's existence.

The European Union, main donor to the Palestinians, praised the agreement as a good first step while Washington said it wanted to see more details. Both emphasised Hamas still had to make clear it recognised Israel and also renounced violence.

With Israel and the Palestinians preparing for a possible Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip following the kidnapping of a soldier, there appeared to be little chance agreement over the document could open a path towards peacemaking soon.

Abbas had sought to soften Hamas' line in the hope of ending the US-led financial siege. During weeks of wrangling in the power struggle, he tried to get the Hamas government to accept a document penned by Palestinians in Israeli jails which implicitly recognises Israel.

Hamas accepted it only after amendments it insisted would allow it to stick to its "agenda of resistance" to Israel.

"The document included a clear clause referring to the non-recognition of the legitimacy of the Occupation," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, using the group's term for Israel.

Officials close to the negotiations said Abbas, of Fatah, and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, drafted a platform accepting a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, areas captured by Israel in a 1967 war.

Such a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be in line with Fatah's recognition of Israel.

But Hamas legislator Salah al-Bardaweel told Reuters: "We said we accept a state (in territory occupied) in 1967 -- but we did not say we accept two states." A senior aide to Abbas said that the agreement clearly meant that Hamas accepted Israel. Yasser Abed Rabbo accused Hamas of "playing with words in order to save face".

The agreement appeared likely to mean the cancellation of a July 26 referendum Abbas had scheduled, over Hamas' objections, on the prisoners' document. Under the accord, Hamas, which won elections in January, would agree to form a unity administration with Fatah and other factions, officials said before the deal was announced.

The United States and European Union said Hamas now had to make clear not only that it recognised Israel, but also renounced violence and accepted past peace agreements.

Israel has said the document is a non-starter and ruled out dealing with Hamas until the group met those terms.

"Internal Palestinian politics is interesting but it is really irrelevant. We have a crisis. We have an Israeli serviceman held hostage by a group of terrorists in Gaza," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

Israel massed tanks and troops near Gaza today for a threatened offensive against Palestinian militants and said it would target Hamas leaders unless militants freed Corporal Gilad Shalit, kidnapped during a raid into Israel on Monday.

In northern Gaza, Palestinians blocked roads with dirt and barbed wire. Militants wielding automatic rifles and anti-tank rockets rigged explosive devices along a road as tensions hit their highest since Israel quit Gaza nearly a year ago.

A car exploded in Gaza City close to Haniyeh's office, killing a Hamas militant and wounding several others, witnesses said. Israel said it was not involved.

Hamas' armed wing said it carried out Monday's attack with other gunmen but has not said it is holding Shalit.

Israel said Hamas leaders could become assassination targets, including the group's Damascus-based supreme chief Khaled Meshaal, unless Shalit was freed.

"We are preparing for a broad and forceful action drawing on all means at our disposal," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told parliament. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged diplomacy to be given a chance first.

Some Palestinian sources said the tense security situation, with Israeli armour massing on Gaza's border, had pushed the factions to intensify their efforts to reach agreement on the prisoners' document.

The Popular Resistance Committees reiterated the group had kidnapped a settler in the occupied West Bank. It has produced no evidence to back the claim but police said they were investigating reports that an 18-year-old settler was missing.

- REUTERS