Abbas to press Olmert to end Gaza blockade

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will ask Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to end the blockade on Gaza and accept his offer to control Gaza's border crossings, Palestinian officials said on Saturday.

The two leaders are expected to meet on Sunday to discuss how to push forward with peace talks after Hamas breached Gaza's border with Egypt in defiance of a blockade that Israel says is meant to counter rocket fire from Gaza. Senior Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo told Reuters the top issue on Sunday would be "ending the siege on Gaza" and removing hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank that he said amounted to a siege there too.

Abbas condemned Israel's blockade on Gaza as collective punishment. "When you deprive the people of water, electricity, and humanitarian goods, even air, the people must explode, and they live in a besieged strip," Abbas said in a speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Israel and the Palestinians launched their most serious peace talks in seven years at a US-sponsored conference in November with the goal of signing a peace treaty in 2008.

But Hamas' success in blowing up Gaza's border to led thousands of Palestinians stock up on supplies has further undermined a US-backed campaign to sideline the Islamists and strengthen Abbas.

Border offer

Abbas renewed his offer to take control of Gaza's border crossings to help ease conditions there, although Israeli officials said Olmert rejected the idea. Hamas has said it would prevent the move unless it had a say in future agreements on border crossings and US and Israeli officials doubt Abbas' security forces are strong enough to take control of the crossings unless Hamas agrees.

The newly launched Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have dealt with so-called final-status issues such as borders and the fate of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees, but the two leaders remain at odds over the scope of the deal.

Israeli officials said Olmert wanted a deal to outline a "framework" for a future Palestinian state with implementation delayed until the Palestinians can ensure Israel's security.

Abbas wants a final peace treaty enabling him to declare a state by the end of the year.

Abbas said Hamas' Gaza takeover had undermined his efforts to set up a state in the West Bank, including Arab East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, all of which were occupied by Israel in the 1967 war.

"Since the coup up to this day Hamas has committed a crime against the Palestinian people, a crime against the unity of the Palestinian people, a crime against the unity of the land of the Palestinian people and a crime against the hopes and aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state," Abbas said.

Abbas reiterated he would not resume contacts with Hamas until the group gave up control of Gaza. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had invited the two sides to meet for talks.

In the speech, Abbas said Israel must remove some 640 checkpoints in the occupied West Bank. Israel has so far balked at removing the checkpoints, citing security concerns