A new coalition government was formed March 17 to help stop the violence in Palestine and support President Abbas's efforts aimed at achieving a resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Ismail Haniyeh also said his government would respect earlier agreements reached between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel, and work toward the formation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
He said PNA President Mahmoud Abbas as PLO chairman had full authority to conduct the relevant negotiations.
Palestinian authorities said earlier they were determined to implement the Mecca agreements to stabilize the situation in the PNA and restore dialogue with Israel.
Palestine was on the brink of civil war as the country found itself torn between the Fatah movement, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, and the Islamist group Hamas, which won parliamentary elections in January 2006 and is regarded by the U.S. and Israel as a terrorist organization.
At a February 8 meeting in Mecca, Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement on the structure of a new power-sharing Cabinet. The agreement ended weeks of fighting between the opposing groups, in which over 90 people died on the both sides.
