Israel and United States: "No to a Hamas government". Abu Mazen: "If you are looking for a Palestinian partner, it exists. But you cannot be the ones to choose".
Ramallah (AsiaNews/Agencies) The official results from Palestinian elections are yet to be released, but both major parties on the list claim to have won an absolute majority.
"Hamas," says Ismail Haniyeh, who headed Hamas's list in Wednesday's elections, "has won more than 70 seats in Gaza and the West Bank, which gives it more than 50 per cent of the vote".
In the other camp, Al Fatah supporters in Gaza were on the streets last night to celebrate victory after exit polls suggested President Abu Mazen had retained a majority.
"There will be no pronouncement on Palestinian election results before 9:00 in the morning" says Roula Sarhan, spokesperson for the election commission overseeing the poll.
According to the Ramallah election centre, Al Fatah has taken 42% of the votes Hamas il 35%. Yet in a separate exit poll, run by Al Najah university in Nablus, President Abu Mazen's party gained 46 per cent against Hamas 40 per cent.
Up tp now, the only result that is certain is the turnout at the polls, which according to the Palestinian election commission reached 77,6 per cent.
Ehud Olmert, interim Israeli premier, has declared the presence of Hamas in any future Palestinian government "cannot be tolerated", because of the numerous attacks it has carried out against the Jewish state. Washington too has warned against the possibility of Hamas in power, saying that it would in no way have a "dialogue with terrorists".
Today the President of the Palestinian National Authority clarified his government's position on the question: "The Palestinian people is ready to negotiate with the Israelis, but they do not have the right to choose who their partners in a dialogue are. If they are looking for a partner in dialogue, this exists".
"The Israelis," concluded Abu Mazen, "should not be afraid; instead, they should be happy, because we are building a democracy which will become the foundation for peace between our peoples".