Abbas offers peace talks with new Israel government

RAMALLAH, Apr 11 (Reuters) President Mahmoud Abbas said today he was willing to resume peace talks with Israel as soon as it formed a new government, even though the Israelis are shunning the Palestinian Authority led by his Hamas rivals.

''We are ready to begin negotiations on the basis of the road map from the minute the Israeli government is formed,'' Abbas told reporters in Ramallah, referring to the U.S.-backed peace plan that was drawn up in 2002 but never implemented.

''There is no other way but direct negotiations based on international legitimacy,'' he said.

Israel has said it will not deal with Hamas, the Islamist militant group that won Palestinian elections in January, but has left the door open to negotiations with Abbas, whose once-dominant Fatah movement was defeated by Hamas in the polls.

Israel's acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose Kadima party emerged on top in March elections and is trying to form a coalition government, on Tuesday reiterated his description of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority as a ''terrorist entity''.

Since Hamas took power in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on March 29, Israel has moved to sever ties with the Authority, applying intense financial, diplomatic and military pressure on Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction.

The United States and the European Union have cut direct aid to the new government, laden with around 1.3 billion dollars of debt and unable to pay salaries due to 140,000 staff.

The United Nations told its aid agencies to avoid meeting Hamas politicians and to limit any contacts to technocrats in the Palestinian government, U.N. officials said on Tuesday.

In the past week, Israel has bombarded targets in Gaza, from where militants often fire home-made rockets into Israel.

At least 15 Palestinians, mostly fighters, have been killed -- the highest Gaza death toll since Israel pulled out in August and September last year after 38 years of occupation.

Abbas said he was in touch with U.S., European and Israeli officials to try to end the Israeli attacks, which have wound down in the past 24 hours.

''We are holding contacts...to stop this unjustified unmatched escalation,'' he said. ''If there are rockets fired here and there we condemn this, but that doesn't justify the demolitions, the killings.''

To try to ease the growing financial crisis, Hamas has sought support from Arab allies, so far without success. On Tuesday, it sent a delegation to Iran on a similar mission. A Hamas official said Arab states would face unrest at home if they failed to act soon to support the Palestinian Authority.

''The Arab states will not be able to turn their back on the popular pressure to help the Palestinians,'' Farhat As'ad told Reuters. ''They will be forced to pay and support the Palestinian government because the Arab people will move in protest demonstrations in the coming few days.'' In Ramallah, a crowd of around 500 people demonstrated against the combined U.S., EU and Israeli pressure, while politicians called for the public to donate money.

''They want to punish the Palestinian people for their democratic choice,'' Aziz Dweik, the speaker of the Palestinian parliament, told the crowd as he held up small plastic bags that he said were filled with donations.

''Support our government... Support it, back it, and tell the world we will not compromise on our rights.'' Speaking to his cabinet via video-link from his base in Gaza, Palestinian Prime Minister and Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh condemned the EU and United States for cutting off aid, and Israel for its military attacks.

''The military escalation coincides with a political and a financial siege against the Palestinian people and government,'' he said. ''It is clear that the aim of the escalation is to bring the Palestinian people and their government to their knees.'' At a meeting in Jerusalem, the Israeli government approved new guidelines, outlined on Sunday by Olmert's security cabinet, severing all direct contacts with the Hamas-led government and describing it as a ''terrorist entity hostile to Israel''.

In a statement, the government pledged Israel would liaise with the international community on transferring humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, bypassing the Palestinian Authority.

REUTERS