Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations

    RAMALLAH, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Sunday said his government's economic and security activities in the West Bank are incomplete unless they are applied in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

    "The government's efforts to boost the security and economy in West Bank will remain short without the return of Gaza Strip to the legitimacy," Fayyad said at the opening of an economic conference in the West Bank city of Jericho.

    Fayyad was appointed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to form a new cabinet in June last year after his forces lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas in a week-long bloody infighting.

    Hamas refuses to recognize Fayyad's government and the Hamas unity government, which was deposed by Abbas following the Gaza seizure, tights its grip on the coastal enclave.

    Referring to a proposal by Abbas for holding talks with Hamas, Fayyad said Abbas' call was "the realistic and necessary entry to restore the unity of the home and the Palestinian (National) Authority (PNA) institutions."

    The PNA institutions in Gaza fell into Hamas control and, as a result, ties with their counterparts in the West Bank were cut.

    Egypt has been endeavoring to help launch an inter-Palestinian dialogue to put an end to the political split between the Palestinian territories.

    Fayyad said it was essential for a unity government of independent members and with Arab assistance to rebuild the security services in order to deal with the Palestinian situation.

    Fayyad also said that unity government should prepare for early elections, an idea rejected by Hamas.

    The Palestinian government supports an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip and the lifting of the Israeli blockade on Gaza, Fayyad said.

    Moreover, he criticized Israel for delaying implementation of its commitments to the peace process, saying that continued construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank "frustrates the PNA efforts."

    Fayyad renewed his support to a two-state solution to end the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.