DURING A rare visit to the West Bank city of Hebron on Thursday, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas appealed to the international community to prevent Israel from attacking besieged and blockaded Gaza and called on Hamas to return to Egyptian-bro-kered reconciliation talks suspended last November, writes Michael Jansen
The Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority wants Hamas "to return to reason. We do not want to get rid of [Hamas and its followers], they are a part of the Palestinian people, whatever their ideas and vision may be, and however [their views] may differ from ours," he stated.
"But . . . we will not accept for this nation to remain torn apart. We call and continue to call for national dialogue."
Hamas pulled out of a gathering of Palestinian factions in November in Egypt to protest at the arrest of Hamas members in the Fatah-administered West Bank.
Mr Abbas issued his latest appeal for dialogue following a meeting in Cairo with Egyptian president Husni Mubarak, who has given his intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, the task of achieving Palestinian reconciliation and reunification, as well as restoring the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
Mr Abbas told Hebron's civic leaders, "I promise you I will not accept a slide into civil war under any circumstances." He said the Palestinian Authority sought to restore "democracy and rationality" and to "hold free and fair elections".
He threatened recently that if Hamas, which rules Gaza, does not agree to resume reconciliation negotiations by the end of this year he could call simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections, possibly in the spring.
However, Hamas says it will cease to recognise Mr Abbas as president if he remains in office after his term ends on January 9th. Hamas also insists fresh legislative elections should be held in January 2010, when the mandate of the current Hamas-majority parliament ends.
Commenting on the 400 Israeli settlers who dwell in Hebron's old city among 20,000 Palestinians who suffer abuse and violence from the settlers, Mr Abbas said that the Palestinian Authority "will not allow the settlers to stay [under a final peace agreement]. Hebron is ours, the settlers should leave if Israel wants peace, as we do." He also told several hundred Palestinian policemen recently deployed in Hebron that they should treat all Palestinian citizens as equals, whether from Fatah or Hamas. "Anyone violating law and order will be punished."