US: 'no plot' for Hamas ouster
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-15 09:17

NEW ELECTIONS

The Times report said the goal of the campaign would be to ensure that newly elected Hamas officials failed and new elections were called.

The allies would seek to starve the Palestinian Authority of money and international connections, making life so difficult for Palestinians that they would vote to return a reformed Fatah movement to office, it said.

The Jerusalem-datelined story cited unidentified Israeli officials and U.S. diplomats.

Israeli officials also denied they were drafting a plan to force new elections.

"The strategy is to present the incoming leadership of the Palestinian Authority a clear choice: either they transform themselves into a legitimate political interlocutor ... or they face international isolation," said foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev.

The New York Times quoted officials as saying Hamas plans to build up its militias and increase violence and, unless it renounces violence, accepts Israel and accepts previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements, must be starved of power.

The strategy carries many risks, the officials conceded, saying Hamas would try to secure support from the larger Islamic world, including allies Syria and Iran.

Israel, which does not expect Hamas to meet its conditions, will cut off payments of $50 million to $55 million a month in taxes and customs duties and put that money in escrow.

In addition, some of the aid the Palestinians receive from the United States and European Union will be stopped or reduced, the officials told The Times. Further travel restrictions might also be imposed, including cutting Gaza off completely from the West Bank, the newspaper reported.