Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during the first session of the newly elected Palestinian Legislative Council in the West Bank city of Ramallah Feb. 18, 2006.(Xinhua/AFP photo)

    RAMALLAH, Feb. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Newly-elected Palestinian parliament, which is dominated by the Islamic Resistance Movement(Hamas), was sworn in on Saturday, marking a new era on the Palestinian political stage.

     All the 132 lawmakers, including 74 from Hamas, took oath collectively around Saturday noon in both the West Bank city of Ramallah and the Gaza City linked by videophones since Israel banned Gaza-based Hamas legislators to travel to the West Bank for the inauguration ceremony.

    Then in a keynote speech, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formally asked Hamas, which is at the helm of the parliament for the first time both for Hamas and the Palestinians, to form a new government.

    Abbas also urged the new cabinet, to be led by Hamas which is sworn to Israel's destruction, to respect previous agreement sinked by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Israel and resort to negotiations toward peace.

Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas leader (M) attends the parliament meeting in Gaza February 18.(Xinhua/AFP photo)

    "As we succeeded in holding fair and democratic elections, I would like to remind those elected and the new government members that they should respect all the signed commitments," Abbas said." The government should pursue peace negotiations since negotiations are the only way to harvest the fruits of long-term struggle as well as a practical opportunity to achieve legitimate national goals," Abbas stressed.

    "As we have approved negotiations as a strategic choice, we should at the same time develop all peaceful types of resistance," he continued.

    The Palestinian president also urged all the militant groups to lay down arms as soon as possible, saying "Everyone from now on should respect the fact that there is only one authority, one law and one gun, which is the legal gun of the Palestinian (National)Authority."

    HAMAS REJECTS CALL TO TALK WITH ISRAEL

    In response to Abbas' call, Hamas, however, said that to hold negotiations with Israel was not on the group's agenda. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in the Gaza City that the group rejected the call to talk with Israel since the Jewish state continued its occupation of the Palestinian lands, stressing that armed resistance was a legal right of the Palestinian people." Hamas rejects negotiations with the occupation under the current circumstances while occupation and aggression continue," he said.

    "We re-emphasize the commitment to armed resistance as a natural right of our people," he added.

    Hamas scored a landslide victory in the Jan. 25 Palestinian parliamentary elections, defeating Abbas' long dominant Fatah movement which only managed to garner 45 seats in the 132-member legislature.

    The January ballot was Hamas' first parliament bid as the group boycotted the previous elections in 1996.

    Saturday's swearing-in of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) paves the way for the formation of a Hamas-led government. Mushi al-Masri, another Hamas spokesman based in the Gaza Strip, said that the new cabinet was expected to be announced in March, voicing hope for a national coalition government. In addition, Aziz Dweik, senior Hamas leader in the West Bank, was elected new parliament speaker at the session with overwhelming yes votes.

    Replacing veteran Fatah member Rawhi Fattouh in the key parliament post, Dweik, 57, vowed that Hamas would fulfill its duty to resist the Israeli government.

    He also announced that the next parliament session would beheld on Feb. 27.

    ISRAEL THREATENS SANCTIONS

    Shortly after Hamas formally assumed power in the Palestinian parliament, an Israeli government spokesman said that the Jewish state would "deem the PNA as an enemy from now on." The Israeli cabinet is expected to decide on sanction proposalsput forward by the Defense Ministry on a Hamas-led Palestinian government on Sunday.

    The proposals include barring Palestinians from traveling between the West Bank and Gaza via Israel, a ban on Palestinian workers from entering Israel and an immediate halt of monthly transfer of tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians to the PNA.

    The Defense Ministry also recommended a freeze on plans to build a Gaza seaport and renovate the Gaza airport. The sanctions, if approved, will constitute an Israeli boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian government, a tough response to Hamas' election victory and ascendance in the Palestinian political landscape.

    But Israel has said that it will not hamper humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.

    In face of Israel's sanction threat, Gaza-based Hamas leader Ismail Haneya, which headed the Hamas list in the January polls and is a favorite for premiership, accused Israel of inflicting "collective punishment", vowing that the group would not kneel before such Israeli measures.

    Meanwhile, Abbas warned in his parliament speech on Saturday that Israel's punitive measures would backfire.

    "Blocking the negotiation track and carrying out unilateral adventures (by Israel) would get us far from peace and settlement," he asserted. "These measures would never force our people to wave a white flag and anyone who thinks so would be totally mistaken."

    "Hamas' win in the election shouldn't be an excuse for blackmailing our people," said Abbas. "The Palestinians should not be punished for their democratic choice."

    Abbas also sent a message to the Israeli people ahead of the March 28 Israeli general elections, calling for peace negotiations." I say to the Israelis that the road to security can only go through peace and we are confident that there is no military solution to this conflict," Abbas said.

    "I frankly say that the continuation of occupation and the (Jewish) settlement expansion would lead to more violence and hatred," he warned.

    In addition, Hamas is also facing calls by the international Mideast peace-brokering group called the Quartet Committee to renounce violence, recognize the existence of Israel and abide by previous peace deals.

    The Quartet, grouping the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, have threatened to end aid to the Hamas-led government if the group failed to fulfill the demands. Hamas, on its part, has reiterated that it will not give up armed resistance or rescind its plank to destroy Israel, but the group has indicated the possibility of reaching a long-term truce with Israel if the Jewish state withdraws from land it captured in the 1967 Mideast War. Enditem