Sacked Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haneya, who is also a Hamas leader in Gaza, Sunday slammed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for standing with Israel and the United States on imposing siege on the Gaza Strip.

 

In a speech aired by Hamas' al-Aqsa television, Haneya said the orders from the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Abbas is based after Hamas' takeover of Gaza in June, are meant to tighten the siege on the sacked Hamas-led government in Gaza.

 

He said that the government employees who stick to their posts (in Gaza) are not paid due to the siege while those stay at homes (in the West Bank) receive salaries by month.

 

"The enemy (Israel) and the US administration are the first two sides to be blamed for Gaza closure, but of course we don't discharge some Palestinian leaders from taking part in the siege," Haneya said.

 

However, the former prime minister and de facto ruler of the Gaza enclave, vowed to survive the siege. "The siege and the aggression will not force us to give up our rights... by Jihad and resistance we will restore the rights even if after one thousand years."

 

All crossings in Gaza Strip have been shut down by Israel since the Islamic Hamas routed the security forces loyal to moderate President Abbas and thus took control of the enclave.

 

Following the "coup," what President Abbas defined, Hamas-led National Unity government was dismissed and a caretaker government was installed in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

 

The Palestinian territories have since been divided into two parts, Hamas-ruled Gaza and the West Bank controlled by president.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2007)