Hamas demands release of revenues

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The Palestinian PM, Hamas's Ismail Haniya, has called for the release of all Palestinian funds held by Israel.

It follows the return of $100m (£50.7m) - about a sixth of the total amount that is still in Israeli hands.

Israel has transferred the sum to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas because it refuses to deal with the Hamas-led government.

Mr Haniya said it did not matter who the money was released to as long as it helped to reduce Palestinian suffering.

The payments of tax and customs revenues, which Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, were frozen last March when Hamas took office.

A senior aide to Mr Abbas, Saeb Erekat, welcomed the payment saying he hoped the rest of the funds would be released as soon as possible.

Early elections

Also on Friday, Mr Abbas reiterated that he would hold early elections if the latest coalition talks with the governing Hamas movement ended in failure.

Mr Abbas said fresh elections would not mean rejecting Hamas outright: the movement, he said, could be elected again by Palestinian voters.

But, he said, the current stalemate could not continue.

Hamas has accused Mr Abbas of trying to topple its government by calling early elections.

Since Mr Abbas called for early elections, in mid-December, more than 30 Palestinians have been killed in factional violence between Hamas and Fatah fighters.

Mr Abbas was speaking in Ramallah after talks with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana.

For his part, Mr Solana said the Palestinian people had the support of the European Union - but he urged them to resolve their internal differences and move forward with the peace process.

Mr Abbas will be visiting Syria on Saturday for talks; he is expected to meet senior Hamas figures there.