Abbas calls for overthrow of Hamas in Gaza Strip, claiming population is being abused

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, called yesterday for the overthrow of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip in his most confrontational comments since the Islamist group seized power from the Palestinian Authority in June.

Speaking in Algeria, Abbas said: "We have to bring down this bunch, which took over Gaza with armed force and is abusing the sufferings and pains of our people."

Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, seized power in June when its forces went on the offensive against the PA security services, which are dominated by Abbas's Fatah faction. Hamas claimed it attacked only those agencies that had tried to destabilise its government and kill its members.

Abbas stopped short of urging an uprising, but he appeared to be trying to capitalise on growing discontent with Hamas in the coastal territory. It was his first explicit demand that Hamas be ousted since the group seized power. Recent polling shows a sharp decline in support for Hamas in Gaza, with one survey giving it 13%, against 40% for Fatah.

His remarks coincided with intensifying diplomatic efforts to bridge differences with Israel before a US-brokered summit in Annapolis, Maryland, which is now expected to be held on November 26.

The Palestinian leader said his government was working relentlessly to make the conference a "decisive launching pad" for establishing a Palestinian state. But he demanded that Israel halt all settlement construction, release Palestinian prisoners and end its targeted killing of suspected Palestinian militants. The centrepiece of the conference is expected to be a joint declaration pledging negotiations on the final status issues of Jerusalem, borders and refugees. Israeli and Palestinian government officials insist that Hamas cannot be a party to those negotiations. Both want to see it defeated.

Since June, Hamas has tried to rule the strip in spite of Israeli and international sanctions. Abbas ordered civil servants and police officers not to work in Gaza or face losing pay. Israel has closed all but one crossing into Gaza and barred everything but what it regards as essential items.

On Monday an estimated 200,000 Fatah supporters attended a rally to commemorate the death of Yasser Arafat. Members of the Hamas police force fired live rounds at the crowd, killing eight and wounding more than 80.

In the past Abbas, based in the West Bank town of Ramallah, has not gone beyond demanding that Hamas apologise for overrunning Gaza and reverse the takeover.

The ferocity and speed of the Hamas victory in June led to calm in Gaza for the first time in years. However, Hamas has not been able to forge a relationship with Israel or the international community. It has also been tested by factions that refuse to obey the regime. The absence of an export market and the scarcity of raw materials has led to the almost complete collapse of Gazan industry.

In spite of this, Hamas retains total control of Gaza. Its Executive Security Force and Qassam brigades are more than equal to any combined Palestinian forces that could be mobilised against them.

With the help of the Israeli army, Abbas and the PA remain relatively strong in the West Bank but Israeli intelligence agencies say that Hamas plans to seize power there as well. Hamas rounded up more than 400 Fatah activists this week and announced media restrictions and plans to curb public gatherings.

The deposed prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, rejected Abbas's call. "Hamas is hard to break, and it is beyond being wiped out or eliminated," he said in a televised speech.

Hamas says it wants to begin negotiations with Abbas to create a unity government but Abbas and his prime minister, Salam Fayad, have insisted they will not negotiate with Hamas until it relinquishes its hold on Gaza.