Abbas Hits Hamas.

Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Nov. 15 said the Gaza Strip's Hamas Islamist rulers must be brought down, issuing his strongest call yet for their removal. "We have to bring down this gang which forcibly took over the Gaza Strip", Abbas said in a TV address three days after seven people were killed by gunfire at a Fatah rally surrounded by Hamas security forces in Gaza.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri described Abbas's comments as "shameful" and said they proved he was not interested in any Palestinian reconciliation. Abbas has said there could be no new unity talks with Hamas until it relinquished control of the Gaza Strip, home to 1.5m Palestinians. Hamas on June 14 took over the Gaza Strip in fighting against Fatah.

Abbas travelled to Saudi Arabia and met with King Abdullah on Nov. 16 to hammer out a united stance for the US-sponsored Annapolis meeting with Israel which the Saudis have sent mixed signals about attending. Riyadh's participation was in doubt because it was not satisfied with the gestures announced so far by Israeli PM Ehud Olmert. US officials were on Nov. 16 quoted as saying it was premature to judge Saudi Arabia's intentions because the Bush administration had yet to send formal invitations to the meeting, tentatively scheduled to convene in the final week of November.

Israeli, Palestinian and US officials see Saudi attendance as critical to giving a wider Arab stamp of approval to a meeting which Abbas sees as a launching pad for establishing a Palestinian state and Israel sees as a way of lessening its isolation in the region.

It is unclear how any future peace deal could be implemented with the Palestinian territories divided. Saudi Arabia, which does not have formal relations with Israel, has called on the Jewish state to freeze the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank to attract Arab states to the conference. Israeli officials say Olmert plans to release several hundred Palestinian prisoners and is considering calling for at least a partial freeze in Jewish settlement building before the meeting convenes. The Palestinians asked Israel to release 2,000 prisoners and to impose a complete freeze on settlement activity. Israeli officials says Saudi Arabia is playing hard to get.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been struggling to agree on a joint document to address in broad terms core issues like borders, the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees. But it is increasingly unclear whether a joint document will be ready in time for the conference. Both Israeli and US officials say reaching an agreement on the document is not a requirement for going ahead with the meeting as scheduled.