Hamas warned yesterday that if the new Israeli government did not begin peace negotiations and end the confiscation of Palestinian land it would revert to "armed resistance" to the occupation of the West Bank.
Hamas declared a ceasefire more than a year ago and has renewed it for another year. But Mahmoud Ramahi, Hamas's spokesman in the Palestinian parliament, said Palestinians had the right to renew hostilities within the West Bank if the occupation continued, although he ruled out a renewal of suicide attacks within Israel. Such attacks were part of a policy of retaliation for the killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli army, a policy which had now ended, he said.
"So far we have heard some positive things and there has been a change in rhetoric from the campaign, but there is still the questions of 'who is a partner for peace'. They said [ Yasser] Arafat was not a partner for peace, then [ Palestinian president] Mahmoud Abbas and now Hamas. I can only imagine that their ideal partner is another Israeli."
He said the question of Hamas recognition of Israel was irrelevant as any negotiations would be carried out by Mr Abbas. "Negotiation is the job of the PLO as the representatives of the Palestinians all over the world. When there is a final agreement there should be a referendum of Palestinians everywhere and we will respect the result," he said.
Hassan Kreishi, the deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament, said he hoped the election would lead to peace negotiations and a rapprochement between Hamas and Israel.
"This has not been a historic election and you can see this from the lazy response of the Israeli voters. The low turnout shows that the Israeli voters did not care about their politicians and they do not believe their vote will change anything," he said.
Mr Olmert's tone in his post-election speech was encouraging, he said. "Before he talked about taking unilateral steps; now he is talking about negotiation. With the new era in the Palestinian Authority we can now start negotiating on a more equal basis than before. Israel must realise that to make peace with us it has to talk to us. We chose our government and they have chosen theirs. Now it's time to talk," he said.
Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of parliament's foreign affairs committee and a member of Fatah, said he believed Israeli voters had sent a demand for peace to their politicians. "Olmert's tone [ in his post-election speech] changed because he received a slap in the face from the voters," Mr Abdullah said.
"Kadima did badly because the voters rejected the idea that the Israeli government can simply dictate its terms to the Palestinians. Secondly, the voters gave the message that they reject the idea that there is a military solution to the conflict; they want a solution through negotiations."
Meanwhile, in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, Arab leaders expressed dismay at the election result, after renewing their own offer of peace for land through international mediation.
The Arab League's 22 members ended a summit with a unanimous rejection of go-it-alone Israeli measures. Most predicted Mr Olmert's victory would not mean much change in Israel's approach to the Palestinians, but Egypt and Jordan, which have both signed peace deals with Israel, expressed hope that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians would resume at some stage.