Abbas Sets Date for Referendum on Israel

A Palestinian Hamas supporter waves a green Islamic flag as thousands of Palestinians attend a demonstration at the Palestinian Parliament in Gaza City, Friday, June 9, 2006 following an Israeli artillery strike that killed seven civilians in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a three-day mourning period and Hamas' military wing said it would no longer honor a truce with Israel following the deadly Israeli artillery strike. The Israeli army said it had targeted areas in the northern Gaza Strip used by Palestinian militants to fire homemade rockets at Israel. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) (Khalil Hamra - AP)

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Moderate President Mahmoud Abbas, defying the Hamas militants who run the government, said Saturday that Palestinians would vote next month on whether to establish a state alongside Israel, effectively recognizing the Jewish nation.

Hamas immediately rejected the notion of the July 26 referendum, which is expected to win a clear majority despite rising anger at Israel and increased infighting between the militants and Abbas' Fatah movement.

Hamas fighters battled Abbas loyalists in Gaza and fired rockets and mortars at Israel, ending a 16-month truce after an explosion blamed on Israeli shelling Friday killed eight people and wounded dozens at a seaside family picnic.

"We have to rule out the idea of a referendum," Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said.

Abbas said the vote could be called off if the sides reach agreement on the document, which was written by prominent Palestinian militants jailed by Israel and calls for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

Establishing the state in those lands, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War, would be an implicit recognition of Israel.

Abbas denounced the deaths of the Gaza beachgoers but brushed off Hamas' call to put off the vote due to the renewed violence. He said accepting the referendum would help the Palestinians achieve their dream of statehood and end a debilitating international aid boycott imposed after Hamas' rise to power.

"When we reach an agreement over the prisoners' document, the siege will end," Abbas said.

Later, Abbas and Haniyeh met in Gaza along with Hamas Interior Minister Said Siyam. Abbas' spokesman said the president made clear to Haniyeh that the referendum would be held as planned, despite the prime minister's opposition.

Haniyeh, repeating Hamas' rejection of the vote, said that he had agreed to meet with Abbas again on Sunday, and that dialogue would continue.

Palestinians will be asked to vote "yes" or "no" on the document, which polls show enjoys wide support among Palestinians, partly because of the clout of its authors.

Accepting it could give Hamas, which is officially sworn to Israel's destruction, an avenue for moderating its ways.