JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel on Thursday said it would begin sealing the Gaza
Strip after the Hamas-controlled Palestinian parliament is sworn in this
weekend, stepping up the Israeli campaign to weaken the Islamic militant
group.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, will demand that Hamas
publicly accept his goal of reaching a peace deal with Israel and recognize
past agreements with the Jewish state, officials said. Aides to Abbas
declined to say what steps he would take if Hamas rejects his demands.

Hamas, which is committed to Israel's destruction, has refused to renounce
violence or recognize Israel. But Hamas officials said Thursday they expect
to reach a compromise with Abbas, and the group announced it would nominate
Ismail Haniyeh as prime minister. He is known as a pragmatist and has served
as a liaison between Hamas and the long-ruling Fatah Party.

Since Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections last month, Israeli
leaders have taken a tough line against the group. They have rallied
international opposition to Hamas, and said there will be no dealings with
the militants until they change their ways.

Senior Israeli officials approved a series of tough measures Thursday aimed
at crushing the Gaza Strip's teetering economy.

"The swearing-in of the Palestinian parliament on Saturday rings a gong for
us," Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told a meeting of high-level security and
government officials, according to participants. "A Hamas government will
mean an authority of terror and murder."

Israel will immediately bar laborers from Gaza from entering Israel,
stripping about 4,000 Palestinian families of their main source of income,
and halt the movement of Palestinian officials between the West Bank and
Gaza, security officials said.

Israel will consider tougher economic sanctions later, including restricting
Palestinian exports, the officials said. Barring access to Israel would be
devastating for Gaza. The Israeli market is the largest for the impoverished
coastal strip, and most of Gaza's exports go through Israeli ports.

The measures, which are expected to be approved Friday by acting Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert, would take effect beginning Sunday.

The campaign is aimed at isolating the Gaza Strip from the West Bank. The
Palestinians claim both areas for a future state.

Israeli officials said this week the government is likely to halt monthly
transfers of about $50 million in taxes and customs duties it collects for
the Palestinians. The transfers are crucial for the Palestinian Authority to
pay salaries to 140,000 government workers. Israel has said humanitarian aid
would continue.

Mushir al-Masri, an incoming Hamas lawmaker, condemned the economic threats.

"This is collective punishment on our people," he said. "The world should
realize that more pressure on the Palestinian people will create more
tension and everyone is going to be a loser, including Israel."

The Hamas-led legislature will convene for the first time Saturday. Abbas
will then ask Hamas to form a Cabinet that recognizes interim peace
agreements with Israel and his efforts to reach a permanent settlement, said
Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a top aide to the Palestinian president.

"Any new government should be a continuation of the previous government,"
Abu Rdeneh said. "They have to say this publicly and in writing."

He declined to say what action Abbas will take if Hamas refuses to accept
his program. Under the law, Abbas could fire a prime minister and ask
someone else to form a government, but his choice would require approval
from parliament.

Once Abbas taps Hamas to form a new Cabinet, the militants have five weeks
to do so.

"We are really going to have a showdown and a major crisis," said Saeb
Erekat, a Fatah lawmaker.

But Mushir al-Masri, an incoming Hamas lawmaker, said he was confident the
two sides will reach a compromise. "All of us are shouldering joint
responsibility to serve the interests of our people," he said.

Hamas officials have signaled they would support a long-term truce with
Israel and accept existing agreements that serve Palestinian interests.

While Israel has been pleased with the international response to Hamas,
there have been small cracks in the world's opposition. On Thursday, the
exiled political leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, met with Turkey's foreign
minister in Ankara.

Turkey, which has close ties to Israel and the Palestinians, has been urging
Hamas to reject violence. But Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni protested
the Hamas visit in a telephone conversation with her Turkish counterpart,
the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.

Israel also has criticized Russia for inviting Hamas leaders to Moscow.
Russian said Thursday the visit would take place next month.
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