Palestinians unveiled a new unity cabinet on Thursday that they hope will usher in a new era by ending months of deadly factional violence and a crippling international aid boycott.
But Israel immediately said it would not deal with the new coalition, which unites the Hamas movement with president Mahmud Abbas's secular Fatah party and was formed after weeks of wrangling over the line-up.
"We hope that this government will mark the start of a new era and enable us to turn the page," prime minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said after submitting the list of ministers to Abbas.
"We are going to do everything in our power to strengthen national unity, obtain a lifting of the siege imposed on the Palestinian people and improve our links with the international community."
The Palestinian parliament is expected to vote on the 25-member cabinet on Saturday. The international Quartet for Middle East peace-the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States-slapped an aid freeze on the Palestinian government a year ago when Hamas, considered a terror group by Israel and the West, came to power.
It has insisted that the government renounce violence, recognise Israel and agree to abide by past interim peace deals for the flow of funds to resume. The EU and the United States said they would withhold judgement on the new cabinet until they can study its platform.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa hailed the cabinet and called on the international community to immediately lift the boycott. But Israel rejected any contacts and urged the world to do the same. "We will not recognise or deal with this government or with members of this government and we expect the international community to stand firm in their demand to adopt the three principles," government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said.
Israel froze ties with the Palestinian Authority after Hamas unexpectedly trounced the long-dominant Fatah in a January 2006 election. Hamas does not recognise the Jewish state's right to exist, and Israel has been dealing solely with the moderate Abbas.
A second meeting in less than a month between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas on Sunday failed to produce a breakthrough in the peace process, which has been stalled since 2003. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to meet with both leaders next week during a regional visit, her third so far this year, as Washington revs up its diplomatic efforts in the region.
A senior Israeli official had told AFP earlier that Israel feared cracks were appearing in the Quartet over whether to maintain the boycott. "There is a certain erosion in the international approach towards the Palestinians, especially in Europe," the official said.
The EU said it would stick to its wait-and-see stance, saying no decision on renewing direct ties would be taken "before we can judge the programme and actions of the next government." EU member France said the swearing-in of the new cabinet was likely "to open a new page in relations" with the international community. Israel's main ally Washington also struck a cautious tone. The State Department said it will withhold judgement "until the government is actually in place and we have an understanding of what their platform will be." And the White House urged Abbas to find ways for the new cabinet to abide by the international conditions: "You need a Palestinian government that is going to ... abide by the Quartet conditions."
Hamas assumed power last March, triggering the aid freeze that has wreaked havoc on the already staggering Palestinian economy. As Abbas's Fatah and Hamas wrangled for months over forming a coalition with the aim of breaking the boycott, simmering tensions between their parties often exploded into street violence that has killed scores of Palestinians.
They agreed at a summit in Mecca last month to form a unity government, but stopped short of agreeing to meet Western conditions for resuming aid. Under the terms of the power-sharing agreement, Hamas has 12 cabinet seats and Fatah six, with the rest coming from either independents or small parties. The influential posts of foreign and finance ministers will be occupied by US-educated pragmatists not affiliated with either Hamas or Fatah, and the powerful interior ministry will be headed by an independent who replaces one of Hamas's chiefs.
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