JENIN: The Palestinian prime minister appealed Sunday to the rival Hamas group to join him in a united government, offering to allow the militants to retain security control of the Gaza Strip until elections later this year. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's proposal to his rivals reflected the Palestinians' deep frustration over Washington's handling of Mideast peace efforts. That anger was underscored over the weekend when the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Any partnership with the anti-Israel Hamas would likely draw international criticism and all but rule out hopes of reviving negotiations. The US, EU and Israel shun Hamas as a terror organization. But with peace talks stalled for nearly four months and few hopes for getting them back on track, Fayyad's government is now turning its focus to internal politics. The Palestinian areas have been divided between two rival governments since Hamas seized control of Gaza nearly four years ago. Reunification is essential for the Palestinians, who hope to establish a state that includes both areas. Fayyad said in an interview that the split has gone on too long. “We need to move to end the split,” he told the Associated Press during a tour of the northern West Bank, where he inaugurated new schools and roads and condemned Israel's destruction of Palestinian homes it says are illegally built. Fayyad's boss, President Mahmoud Abbas, announced earlier this month that he would hold long overdue parliamentary and presidential elections in September. The move appeared to be motivated by pro-democracy protests erupting throughout the Middle East as well as the leak of secret negotiating documents to the Al-Jazeera TV station. Those documents showed that Abbas had offered generous concessions to Israel during past rounds of peace talks. Hamas has said it would boycott the elections unless there is reconciliation first. Abbas has since taken the view that elections could not be held without Gaza. Fayyad acknowledged that many details need to be worked out, but he said that as long as Hamas continues to respect a cease-fire with Israel, all other areas of disagreement could be bridged. While Abbas would remain president of all Palestinians until elections are held, Fayyad said Hamas could retain security control of Gaza under a unified government. He said other key details, such as who would be prime minister or be in charge of issues like education and social services, would have to be resolved in negotiations. In Gaza, Hamas officials refused to comment on Fayyad's proposal, saying they needed more details. Fayyad angrily denounced Friday's US veto in the UN Security Council. “The Americans have chosen to be alone in disrupting the internationally backed Palestinian efforts,” Fayyad said. Palestinian officials quoted Obama as telling them that if he had gone forward with the measure, Israel's supporters in Congress had threatened to withhold financial aid to the Palestinians. Around 2,000 Palestinians gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah Sunday to protest the US veto. The crowd massed in Manara Square, a central traffic circle in the West Bank city, waving banners and shouting slogans against the American administration. “Obama, you despicable man, we want self-determination!” shouted the demonstrators.
