Hamas threatens to end truce with Israel over Abbas threat to dissolve its govt

Abbas demanded on Sunday that Hamas recognize Israel and agree to peace talks to avert a financial disaster that could bring a food shortage because of the West’s aid cutoff.

The public warning further heightened tensions between Hamas and Abbas, who heads the Fatah Party defeated by Hamas in January elections. Abbas, elected separately, has been trying to trim the powers of new Cabinet.

In an interview broadcast Monday on CNN-Turk, Abbas said, “The constitution gives me clear and definite authority to remove a government from power, but I don’t want to use this authority. Everyone should know that by law this power is in my hands.”

Hamas reacted angrily, threatening to call off a 15-month truce brokered by Abbas that greatly reduced Israeli-Palestinian violence after five years of bloodshed.

A senior Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the group would “not leave in silence.”

“We will not participate in any new election and we will go underground as we did before and we will not adhere to any commitments, any truce, by anyone,” he said.

Abbas favors peace talks, but Hamas Islamic ideology rejects the presence of a Jewish state in the Middle East. Hamas also refuses to renounce violence or accept interim Palestinian-Israeli peace accords - basic international demands.

An Israeli government spokesman, Raanan Gissin, dismissed the Hamas threat, saying the militant group had never recognized the truce. Although it suspended its suicide bombing campaign after the cease-fire was reached, Hamas was in league with other militant groups that did attack Israel, Gissin charged, “and it never renounced terrorism.”

Aides to Abbas said his warning was directed at Khaled Mashaal, the Hamas leader who accused the Palestinian president last week of “plotting” against the militant group, setting off clashes and protests over the weekend.

The West, which provides the Palestinians with roughly $1 billion (Ð840 million) in annual aid, has cut off some of that funding to protest Hamas’ refusal to moderate. Palestinian officials say U.S. pressure on international banks has kept Arab governments’ money from reaching the Hamas government.

Israel has also squeezed the Palestinians financially by withholding monthly transfers of some $55 million (Ð46 million) in taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

Abbas doesn’t plan to dissolve the government soon and will do so only if the economic situation in the territories becomes catastrophic, the aides said.

Under Palestinian law, if Abbas dissolves the government, he would ask someone else to try to form a Cabinet, which would need approval from the Hamas-dominated legislature. Once Abbas determines there is a stalemate, he has the authority to order new elections.

Abbas said Hamas must negotiate with Israel unless it wants to lead the Palestinian people into a humanitarian catastrophe.

“Hamas has to face the facts and establish communication with Israel,” he said. “I’m worried that the situation will turn into a tragedy in the near future. A short time later we could be up against a great hunger disaster in Palestine.”

The Palestinian leader vowed to work to solve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis with or without Hamas.

“Hamas can support me or not. When I find a way to a solution with Israel, I’ll present this to the Palestinian people in a referendum,” he said.

Israel has not been in serious contact with Abbas since Hamas took power. The Israelis say they favor peace talks, but officials say they can’t regard the Palestinian Authority as a two-headed entity, ignoring Hamas.

Abbas spoke with CNN in both Arabic and English, and the interview was broadcast with a Turkish voice-over. CNN-Turk provided The Associated Press with a full transcript of Abbas’ remarks, translated into Turkish. 

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