Abbas asks Hamas to form Palestinian government

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – President Mahmoud Abbas on
Saturday asked Hamas to form the next Palestinian government
and said he expected it to respect a commitment to talks with
Israel.

Abbas said in a speech at the inauguration of the
newly-elected parliament that the government must follow all
agreements signed with Israel, a state the militant Islamist
group formally seeks to destroy.

“The Hamas movement has become the majority in the
Legislative Council and it will be tasked with the formation of
the new government,” Abbas said.

Hamas has five weeks to set up its government. Abbas will
go to Gaza on Sunday to formally ask the Hamas prime minister
to form the next cabinet.

Abbas said interim agreements with Israel in the 1990s were
a political reality and that it was unacceptable for any group
to doubt their legitimacy even if it opposed them. Hamas has
said it regards them as dead.

“The presidency and the government will continue to respect
our commitment to the negotiations approach as a strategic,
pragmatic political choice,” Abbas said.

“At the same time, we must continue to strengthen and
develop forms of popular resistance of a peaceful nature.”

Abbas urged the continuation of a truce that he agreed with
Israel more than a year ago.

Hamas has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings since a
Palestinian uprising began in 2000, though it has largely
followed a truce for the past year.

Hamas leaders say their new government is unlikely to
follow the lines set out by Abbas when it presents its new
government, paving the way for a possible political
confrontation with the president.

The parliament session was held in the West Bank city of
Ramallah. Lawmakers in the Gaza Strip joined in via a video
link. Israel has rejected requests to allow Hamas legislators
to cross its borders.