Hamas to take control of Palestinian parliament

By Wafa Amr

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Hamas will take control of
the Palestinian parliament on Saturday, paving the way for it
to form the next government amid calls by major world powers
for a boycott of the militant Islamist group.

The sweeping victory of Hamas in last month’s parliamentary
election has put it on a collision course with President
Mahmoud Abbas’s peace policies while Israel is mulling tough
new restrictions to pressure a Hamas-led government.

At Saturday’s swearing-in of parliament, Abbas will demand
that the new government recognize interim peace deals with
Israel — a state the group is formally committed to
destroying.

But Abbas will stop short of making such measures a
condition for forming a cabinet, a senior Palestinian official
said.

“He will clearly tell Hamas he expects its government to
pursue the policies of the previous governments, that it must
respect the Authority’s signed agreements with Israel and
pursue peaceful means to resist occupation,” the official told
Reuters.

Hamas officials have said the group will present its own
initiative to parliament — not necessarily on Saturday —
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.

But Hamas officials said the group would not rescind its
call for Israel’s destruction or recognize the Jewish state.

Warning of possible turmoil ahead, top Palestinian
negotiator Saeb Erekat said that if Hamas’s government rejected
Abbas’s peace policies, “it will be a violation of the
constitution, and will lead to a major crisis.”

Saturday’s swearing in session of parliament’s 132
delegates, 74 of whom belong to Hamas, will take place in the
West Bank city of Ramallah. A video link will allow delegates
in the Gaza Strip to participate.

Hamas won control of the Palestinian Legislative Council in
a January 25 parliamentary election, beating Abbas’s
long-dominant Fatah.

ISRAELI TRAVEL BAN

Israel banned 30 lawmakers in Gaza, all members of Hamas or
linked to militant groups, from traveling to Ramallah for
Saturday’s session in line with existing Israel policy.

It is also considering taking tough measures against a
Hamas-led government including banning laborers 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.

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

The United States and other world powers 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.

Defying that call, Russia has said it would invite Hamas to
Moscow for talks.

Hamas, which has largely adhered to a truce since March
last year, has refused to give up its weapons.

Aziz Dweik, chosen by Hamas as the speaker of the new
parliament, said the policies of the new government would be
based on “negotiating with the preservation of our right to
resist (Israel).”

In the Gaza Strip, about 400 gunmen from a Fatah armed
group set fire to tires and blocked streets in a protest
demanding payment of outstanding salaries outside the hall
where the new parliamentary delegates will meet in Gaza City.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi and Nidal
al-Mughrabi in the Gaza Strip)