Hamas Disputes Right to Call Referendum

Amid a fresh outbreak of lethal violence in the Gaza Strip, Hamas declared Sunday that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas does not have the legal authority to call a territory-wide referendum on recognizing Israel.

The statement by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a senior leader of Hamas, appeared to once again set the militant group on a collision course with the more moderate-minded Abbas.

As the political confrontation deepened, factional fighting late Sunday and early today killed five people in two separate shootings in Gaza.

In the southern town of Khan Yunis, gunmen fired on a car carrying two Hamas militants, critically wounding them and killing a pregnant woman and another family member who were also in the car.

Later, in Gaza City, three men, apparently bystanders, were killed by crossfire as gunmen from Hamas and Fatah exchanged fire in the Shati refugee camp, not far from Haniyeh’s home.

Abbas has given Hamas a deadline of Tuesday to either agree on a common political platform, including recognition of the Jewish state, or put the question to the Palestinian electorate.

Haniyeh, speaking to reporters in the Gaza Strip, said “referendums are not permitted in the Palestinian lands.” To make his point, he cited Palestinian law and unspecified experts in international law.

Palestinians have never before held a referendum, but Abbas said one could be staged if he issues a presidential order decreeing it.

There were indications that Abbas might extend the Tuesday deadline to allow the two sides more time to talk. He said last month that unless an agreement could be reached, he would draw up plans to hold a referendum in 40 days.

Hamas’ refusal to recognize Israel and renounce violence has resulted in a dramatic drop in international aid, which in turn has left the Palestinian Authority unable to pay salaries for three months.

Some of the lowest-paid government employees, however, were allowed Sunday to draw part of their earnings from a bank in Gaza, and more were expected to receive a partial payment today at other banks.

About 40,000 workers -- fewer than one-third of the total number of civil servants and members of the security forces -- would be eligible to receive a month’s payment, government officials announced.

Palestinian banks fear running afoul of a U.S. ban on financial dealings with Hamas, so the money paid out to government workers is being described as an interest-free loan.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, meanwhile, told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday that he would meet with Abbas, although he did not give a date.

Olmert last week had told the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot that he expected to meet the Palestinian Authority president at the end of this month.

Egypt, like the Bush administration, has urged Olmert to do more to bolster Abbas as he faces increasingly contentious dealings with Hamas. The Islamist group won parliamentary elections in January, and disputes have been escalating since then between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah faction.

Olmert’s meeting with Mubarak, held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheik, was his first with an Arab leader since becoming prime minister last month.

Mubarak did not mention Olmert’s plan to unilaterally pull back from remote settlements in the West Bank if no agreement is reached with the Palestinians, but urged the Israeli leader to try all possible means of reaching an accord.

“Negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian parties are crucial,” Mubarak said at a joint news conference.

Israel says coming to an agreement with the Hamas-led government is a near-impossibility, but Olmert has said his West Bank pullback plan would be carried out only if the U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan cannot be revived.

“I really hope that our Palestinian partners will take advantage of this opportunity,” Olmert said.

Mubarak did not comment directly on the proposed Palestinian referendum, but urged Hamas and Fatah to resolve their differences. Even before the latest gun battles late Sunday and early today, strife between gunmen from the rival factions had left more than a dozen dead in Gaza in the last month.

The Palestinian referendum, if it takes place, would be based on a document drawn up this year by prominent imprisoned members of Hamas and Fatah.

Surveys have indicated that an overwhelming majority of Palestinians supports the plan, which calls for Palestinian statehood side by side with Israel.

At his talks with Mubarak, Olmert pointedly sought to defuse a source of tension with Egypt: a border clash over the weekend in which two Egyptian policemen were killed by Israeli troops.

The Israeli leader opened his remarks by expressing “deep regret” over the deaths, and the two sides said they would conduct a joint investigation of the incident.

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Special correspondents Hossam Hamalawy in Cairo and Fayed abu Shammaleh in Gaza City contributed to this report.