JERUSALEM, Feb. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The Israeli cabinet will decide on sanctions on a Hamas-led Palestinian government on Sunday, one day after the newly-elected Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament is sworn in, Israel Radio reported on Friday.

    Earlier reports said that the cabinet, now led by Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, would come to a decision on Friday on sanction proposals put forward by the Defense Ministry. The proposals, including barring Palestinians from traveling between the West Bank and Gaza via Israel and a ban on Palestinian workers from entering Israel, were submitted to Olmert on Friday, said the report, adding that the acting prime minister was currently weighing the possible sanctions.

    The suggestions were formed during a meeting of Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and security chiefs in Jerusalem on Thursday, a move seen as aimed to present a tough Israeli response to Hamas' landslide election victory and possible leading role in the next Palestinian government.

    The proposed sanctions also include an immediate halt of monthly transfer of tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians to the Palestinian National Authority and a freeze on plans to build a Gaza seaport and renovate the Gaza airport. Meanwhile, Israel Radio reported that Israel decided on Friday to block Gaza-based Hamas lawmakers to travel to the West Bankcity of Ramallah for Saturday's swearing-in ceremony. In response, the Palestinian side announced earlier that the session would be held simultaneously in both Ramallah and the GazaStrip via videophones.

    Following Israel's sanction threat, senior Hamas leader Ismail Haneya, which headed the Hamas list in the Jan. 25 polls and is a favorite for prime minister nomination, accused Israel of inflicting "collective punishment", vowing that the group would not kneel before such Israeli measures.

    Meanwhile, Mofaz reiterated during a Friday meeting with visiting European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana that the Jewish state would not deal with a Hamas-run Palestinian government until the group renounced violence, recognized Israel's right to exist and committed itself to the internationally-backed road map peace plan which envisions an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

    Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, has won 74 seats in the 132-member Palestinian government and is expected to form a government after the legislature takes office. Enditem