Abbas suspends talks but Israel presses on in Gaza

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended peace negotiations with Israel on Sunday, demanding it end an offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 100 Palestinians, many of them civilians.

The United States, sponsor of the recently revived peace process, said talks must continue. It also called for an end to violence between Israel and Abbas's Palestinian rivals in Gaza.

But Israel's defence minister said the assault would go on.

Eight people died on Sunday, a day after 61 were killed in the bloodiest day for Palestinians since their 1980s uprising.

Israel says it is acting in self-defence to curb rocket attacks by the Hamas Islamists who run the enclave. It shrugged off a U.N. accusation that it had used "excessive force".

Abbas ordered "the suspension of negotiations ... until the aggression is stopped", a senior aide said at Abbas's offices in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The president stopped short of declaring dead U.S.-brokered talks on Palestinian statehood that are opposed by Hamas, which seized control of Gaza from his secular Fatah movement in June.

He later spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and urged her to pressure Israel. A spokesman for Rice confirmed she would go ahead with a visit this week to Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. He said: "We're encouraging Israel to exercise caution to avoid the loss of innocent life."

A White House spokesman said: "The violence needs to stop and the talks need to resume."

Washington hopes talks for a deal to found a Palestinian state before President George W. Bush leaves office in January.

Olmert told a meeting of his cabinet: "Israel is interested in negotiations -- but not at the price of giving up our right to protect Israeli citizens".

AMBUSHES

Defence Minister Ehud Barak made clear the offensive would go on for now: "It is time for action. The operation continues. Hamas is responsible and will pay the price ... We will deploy force to change the situation -- and we will change it."

Five militants and three civilians including a toddler were killed on Sunday. It raised the Palestinian death toll in five days to 105, including nearly 60 civilians, doctors said.

Six Israeli civilians were wounded on Sunday when 25 rockets hit border towns. Two soldiers were also wounded, the army said.