After Annapolis, Abbas faces Hamas challenge

By Mohammed Assadi and Adam Entous - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S.-backed push for a future Palestinian state hinges on President Mahmoud Abbas doing what may seem impossible -- getting Hamas Islamists to give up the Gaza Strip and disarm.

Abbas has done little to explain how he expects to achieve such a feat, either through new elections or militarily.

He and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched their peoples' first formal peace talks in seven years this week with the goal of forging a deal next year to create a state in Gaza and the West Bank, together home to 4 million Palestinians.

Olmert has vowed not to carry out any peace deal until Abbas reins in militants, including Palestinian Hamas Islamists who seized control of Gaza in June and have rejected U.S. President George W. Bush's push for peace.

Hamas has vowed to undermine Abbas's talks with Olmert by keeping up its fight against Israel.

His secular Fatah forces having been routed in Gaza, Abbas assured Bush at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, that he would not engage in dialogue with the Islamist group unless it first gave up control of Gaza.

But Abbas acknowledged: "We do not know what procedures will be used."

Washington likewise has offered no detailed solutions, at least not publicly.

"We are looking for a two-state solution, not a three-state solution. This is not Israel, West Bank and Gaza," White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley said. "The Palestinians in Gaza are going to have to make a choice."

Israel captured both territories in the 1967 Middle East war and pulled out of Gaza in 2005. It regards Gaza as an enemy and regularly launches raids to stop militants' rocket attacks on the Jewish state.

Israel also has repeatedly warned Abbas against any renewed dialogue with Hamas, saying that would torpedo peace moves.

It is unclear whether Abbas has any near-term military options in Gaza despite U.S. efforts to strengthen his security forces.

Israeli officials have hinted at a major incursion against Hamas if rocket attacks against Israel continue. Any international forces would face a hostile reception from Hamas, the group has vowed.

Abbas said he intended to put any final peace deal with Israel to a referendum, seeking public support to weaken Hamas's hold on Gaza. Hamas maintains that Abbas does not have the power to call elections and that any new polls must wait until 2010 under Palestinian law.

"If the Israelis weren't able to suppress them, how will Abbas be able to suppress them?" Zakaria al-Qaq of al-Quds University said of Hamas. "He will not be able to deliver (a state) without Hamas. He has to buy them in and now the price will be very large."