MOSCOW, June 20 (RIA Novosti) - Israel's ambassador to Russia said the international community should support Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as his Fatah Party is the only group trying to achieve peace in the Palestinian territories.

Fatah now only controls the West Bank, having lost Gaza to Islamist group Hamas during last week's violence. Abbas' emergency cabinet formed after the takeover has received the backing of most Western nations.

Anna Azari told a RIA Novosti news conference: "Even if these conflicting sides find a compromise, the international community should strengthen Abbas' position," as his stance is "aimed at reaching a peace agreement."

At talks in Washington on Tuesday between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President George W. Bush, the U.S. leader rallied behind Abbas, in an apparent bid to isolate Hamas, which both Israel and the U.S. consider a terrorist organization.

The ambassador said: "We believe the positions of Mahmoud Abbas, and not of Hamas, should be supported."

Azari said Israel is ready to retaliate if its citizens suffer from the actions of the Islamist group, but ruled out a major military intervention in the volatile Gaza Strip.

"We are not interested in sending large-scale ground forces into Gaza, but we will react if they move from massacres within the Palestinian area to massacres of the Israeli civilian population," she said.

The diplomat also said it is too early to discuss the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Israeli premier and the U.S. president had both spoken of a long-term commitment to a unified Palestinian state at their White House talks, while acknowledging that such plans are unrealistic while Fatah governs only the West Bank.

The ambassador said: "The issue of establishing a Palestinian state is not on the agenda just yet; a split is currently occurring in the Palestinian camp," adding that in the long term Israel wants to see two states for two peoples, not three.

Azari said Israel has resumed contacts with the new Palestinian government. "We are trying to help them restore peaceful life on the West Bank," she said. "When we see people killed, we don't link this with religion, we link it with terrorism."

Several Russian families have been caught up in the turmoil in the crowded Palestinian enclave. Earlier Wednesday, it was reported that some of the 157 Russian nationals stranded on the border with Israel had been evacuated.

A RIA Novosti correspondent reported that the first group had left in a bus from the Erez checkpoint.

Tel Aviv had closed the Erez checkpoint at the northern end of the Gaza Strip following six days of armed clashes between Hamas and Fatah that left more than 100 dead and many more injured.