Palestinian rocket attacks 'useless', says Abbas

GAZA - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, renewing a call for a ceasefire with Israel, said on Saturday rocket attacks by militants against Israelis were counter-productive because they drew Israeli retaliation

Abbas, the frontrunner in a January 9 presidential vote to succeed Yasser Arafat, did not call for such attacks to stop but told Reuters in an interview that the raids Israel launches in response to them hinders the election campaign.

"Of course we renew the call because we believe in peace," he said. "Negotiation is the fundamental way to reach peace between us and the Israelis, in order to implement the road map," he said, referring to a US-backed peace plan which calls for a halt to violence and the creation of a Palestinian state.

"It is true that there are some issues regarding rockets, which are useless, but in return there is a grave, a very grave Israeli escalation," he said.

Recent violence, including a deadly Israeli raid of a Gaza camp, poses a challenge for Abbas, a US-backed moderate who favours ending armed struggle for a Palestinian state.

His stance has been criticised by the Islamic group Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction and has vowed to boycott the elections. The Palestinian leader reiterated his call for a ceasefire between Israel and militant groups ahead of the vote.

Israel has killed 12 Palestinians, mainly militants, during a raid into Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza that it began on Wednesday in response to daily rocket and mortar attacks on nearby Jewish settlements.

"Today in Khan Younis tanks are there, they raid and pull out and then they raid again. By doing this, they are trying to sabotage the democratic process, but the will of the people is greater than all these violations," Abbas said.

Palestinian militants in Gaza have increased rocket and mortar attacks against Israelis ahead of a planned Israeli withdrawal from the territory in 2005, hoping to claim the pullout as a victory. Israel has vowed to smash them first.

In October, Israel killed more than 100 Palestinians, almost half of them civilians, during a raid on northern Gaza -- its deadliest raid in the territory in decades, launched after rocket attacks killed two children in an Israeli border town.

Abbas said Israel was trying to obstruct the campaigning process by mounting raids in Gaza. Israel has agreed to temporarily pull out of Palestinian towns in the West Bank and Gaza for a short period before and after the election.

But Abbas said Israel should withdraw from such areas permanently and return to positions held before a Palestinian uprising began in September 2000.

"They should withdraw and we confirm that we will shoulder our responsibility in maintaining security and control," he said. "Then we can negotiate over further pullouts."

- REUTERS