Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has announced that he will ask
Islamic militant group Hamas to form a new government after its
election victory.
Hamas' strong showing has caused consternation in Israel and the US
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Hamas took 76 out of the 132 seats in the landmark election, beating Mr Abbas' ruling Fatah faction.
The comments came as Hamas faced increasing international pressure to renounce violence against Israel.
A gunbattle erupted on Friday between supporters of Hamas and Fatah in the Gaza Strip, witnesses say.
At least two people are said to have been wounded in the violence near the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Israeli 'fear'
Mr Abbas' comments came after a senior Hamas leader said
the Palestinian leader had agreed to start consultations shortly on "a
political partnership".
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Press eyes Hamas' next steps
US policy challenge
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Ismail Haniya said he had asked to meet Mr Abbas in the next two days to work out the make-up of the next administration.
Correspondents say the meeting will have to be in Gaza,
as Israel is unlikely to give permission for a Hamas delegation to
travel across Israel to the West Bank.
Israeli interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ruled out any
talks with "an armed terror organisation that calls for Israel's
destruction".
A government spokesman then said daily contacts with the
Palestinian Authority would be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but he
repeated Israel's determination not to engage in peace talks with Hamas
until it renounced violence and its commitment to the destruction of
Israel.
International reaction
The US, UN, EU and Russia issued a statement on Thursday
calling on Hamas to renounce violence and accept Israel's right to
exist.
The four powers working for peace in the Middle East
will hold talks in London on Monday to decide what to do after the
victory, which is seen to pose problems for efforts to restart peace
talks with Israel.
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice warned
the US would not give a Palestinian government under Hamas any direct
aid, which it brands a terrorist organisation.
US President George W Bush said Washington would not deal with Hamas unless it rejected its call to destroy Israel.
Hamas has indicated its readiness to continue an unofficial truce.
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1996 ELECTION 1) Fatah: 55 seats
2) Independent Fatah: 7 seats
3) Independent Islamists: 4
4) Independent Christians: 3
5) Independents: 15 seats
6) Samaritans: 1 seat
7) Others: 1 seat
8): Vacant: 2 seats
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2006 ELECTION 1) Hamas - 76 seats
2) Fatah - 43 seats
3) PFLP - 3 seats
4) Badeel - 2 seats
5) Independent Palestine - 2
6) Third Way - 2 seats
7) Independent/other - 4
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A victory for Hamas is positive and unsettling at the same time
