Hamas says Bush proves resistance the 'only way'

1.00pm

DAMASCUS - Palestinian militant group Hamas says US President George W Bush's statement today that Israel could keep parts of the West Bank proves armed resistance is the only way for Palestinians.

The group's political leader, Khaled Meshaal, said Bush's policy marked the end of "illusions that there can be a US-sponsored political settlement" between the Jewish state and the Palestinians.

"This stance proves that resistance is the only way," Meshaal told Reuters in a telephone interview from Beirut.

Hamas, which has vowed to destroy the Jewish state, envisages having Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of a Palestinian state. It rejects any settlement with Israel, including a US-sponsored peace "road map".

"(Bush) fired a fatal bullet at the road map and at any other settlement plan that comes under any other title," said Meshaal.

"This is a dangerous and critical turning point that requires Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians to respond with a joint stance -- folding the page of (political) settlement...to support the choice of resistance," he said.

Bush announced at the White House after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that, "in light of new realities on the ground," it was unrealistic to expect Israel to return to borders that pre-date the 1967 Middle East war, when Israel seized Gaza and the West Bank.

It has been longstanding US policy that a final peace agreement must be reached via negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

Washington had viewed the settlements as an obstacle to peace, backed by a long line of Security Council resolutions calling on Israel to abandon the West Bank communities created since the 1967 conflict.

Bush also appeared to negate any right of return of Palestinian refugees to what is now Israel, saying they should be resettled in a future Palestinian state instead.

His statement, combined with letters that Bush and Sharon exchanged, could go a long way toward helping the Israeli leader push his plan to eliminate 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank through a binding vote in his right-wing Likud party on May 2.

"These are historic and courageous actions," Bush said about Sharon's planned Gaza withdrawal. "If all parties choose to embrace this moment, they can open the door to progress and put an end to one of the world's longest-running conflicts."

Meshal said Bush's comments showed he had "no interest in (safeguarding) Palestinian rights and that the only thing he values is the interests of the Zionist entity".

He urged Arab leaders to abandon calls for peace with the Jewish state when they hold a summit meeting in May.

Meshaal said all Palestinian groups and factions should unite.

Hamas would fight to "restore all Palestinian rights in land and holy shrines, including Jerusalem and the right of return...There is no change in our policy", Meshaal said.

Khaled al-Batsh, a senior official in another Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, said Bush's position was "a declaration of war" against the Palestinian people.

- REUTERS