W Bank Palestinians urge Abbas to run in vote

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Monday to express support for president Mahmoud Abbas days after he said he would not seek re-election in January.

The beleaguered president appears to be hitting the campaign trail despite announcing on Thursday that he would not seek another term in office because of the U.S. government's failure to compel Israel to freeze Jewish settlements.

Government workers and students at public schools were told to attend the midday rally, at which demonstrators were expected to call on Abbas to remain in office and not resume peace talks without a complete halt to settlements.

Abbas demanded that Israel freeze settlements before peace talks suspended during the Gaza Strip war at the turn of the year can be resumed.

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama initially echoed that demand, but in recent weeks Washington has demanded that both sides return to the negotiating table with or without a complete settlements freeze.

Palestinians view the presence of nearly half a million Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, including in east Jerusalem, as a major threat to the eventual establishment of a viable independent state.

Abbas, who was elected in 2005, said last week he would not seek another term in elections he has called for Jan. 24, which the Islamist Hamas movement has rejected and vowed to prevent taking place in their Gaza enclave.

Israel says it rejects preconditions for restarting negotiations, but in fact the Israelis reject peace

Mahmoud Abbas

"They do not want peace"

The demonstration comes a day after Abbas was hailed by Palestinian crowds during a rare visit to the West Bank towns of Hebron and Bethlehem, when he slammed Israel's refusal to halt settlement growth.

"Israel says it rejects preconditions for restarting negotiations, but in fact the Israelis reject peace," Abbas said in Bethlehem.

"They don't want a halt to settlements and they don't want a vision of two states because they do not want peace."

He added, however, that the Palestinians "must keep believing in peace and security and the development of our homeland and our national unity."

Waving flags, Thousands of Abbas supporters lined the streets of Hebron to greet the president as he conducted a rare tour of towns in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, part of the territories where the Palestinians aim to establish a state.

"Mahmoud Abbas, don't step down! You are the foundation," chanted the crowd.

They don't want a halt to settlements and they don't want a vision of two states because they do not want peace

Mahmoud Abbas

A tactic

Many analysts believe his announcement could be a tactic to prompt the United States to put more pressure on Israel to halt all West Bank settlement building.

But chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat reiterated on Sunday that Abbas's announcement was a not a tactic.

Abbas has built his political career around negotiating a peace deal with Israel. He voiced disappointment in his speech last Thursday with what he described as the United States "favoring" Israel in arguments over re-launching peace talks.

The Palestine Liberation Organization, which Abbas also heads, has rejected his announcement, urging him to stay on.

Abbas, 74, replaced the late Yasser Arafat as president five years ago. His call for presidential and legislative elections has been rejected by the Islamist group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 and contests his legitimacy.

Given Hamas's decision to ban the election in the Gaza Strip, many analysts doubt whether the poll will go ahead at all, and if it did it would lack legitimacy, they say.

They don't want a halt to settlements and they don't want a vision of two states because they do not want peace

Palestinian crowd