In a speech broadcast by satellite from Gaza to the Palestinian Legislative Committee in Ramallah, incoming PA prime minister Ismail Haniyeh told Palestinian legislators that "we are against solutions under duress and temporary borders. We are in favor of a Palestinian state that will be created along the 1967 lines and with Jerusalem as its capital."

Haniyeh opened his speech with a Koranic verse and with a blessing to martyrs, especially "the martyr [former PA Chairman Yassir] Arafat and the martyr [former Hamas spiritual leader] Sheikh Ahmed Yassin."

Haniyeh then continued by saying that he "would have preferred that this meeting had been held in Jerusalem, but it was not possible, which proves the cruelty of the Israeli occupation, whose aggression continues to injure the Palestinian people."

Adding to the reconciliatory note of comments that the incoming prime minister made yesterday, he said that "the Palestinian government will act with responsibility toward agreements previously signed by the PLO and will take into account the interests of the Palestinian nation."

But Israeli officials aren't buying Haniyeh's verbal motions toward a reduction of tension between Israel and the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz cast doubt on statements made Sunday by incoming Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, in which the Hamas leader said that his organization wanted to end the bloodshed and the longstanding conflict in the region.

While visiting the draft board at the Tel Hashomer Base, Halutz said that "we had anticipated that Hamas would try to sell ideas in which they themselves do not believe."

"Let's wait and see if there will be tangible evidence backing up these statements. It is impossible to ignore facts on the ground. But as long as there are no such facts, we'll take his statements with a grain of salt," Halutz concluded.

Senior officials in Jerusalem also dismissed Haniyeh's statements as a cynical ploy to confuse the international community and the Israeli diplomatic establishment.

The statement, officials said, was part of a tactic to give Israel and the international community a false sense of security in order to win international legitimacy. They said that senior strategists had already warned the government following the Hamas victory that Hamas's tactic would be to pay lip service to the international community's expectations while maintaining its strategic goal of destroying Israel.

The radical organization has shown no signs thus far of removing the part of their charter calling for the destruction of Israel, and the officials warned the government and the international community not to be enticed by Haniyeh's statements.

"We don't want a whirlpool of blood in this region," Haniyeh told reporters in Gaza City Sunday, as he prepared to present his cabinet to the Palestinian Legislative Council for a vote of confidence.

"We want the rights and dignity of our people. We also want to put an end to this complicated conflict that has been going on for decades." The Hamas leader said his movement's victory in the January 25 parliamentary election was not the reason why the conflict was continuing. "On the contrary," he added, "Hamas's presence in power marks the beginning of resolving the crisis."

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