Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vowed on Thursday to continue peace negotiations with Israel to end the conflict after Hamas won a stunning victory in the Palestinian legislative elections.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Jan. 25, 2006. 

Abbas made the statement in a televised speech to the nation after the Palestinian Central Election Commission declared the official results of Wednesday's elections which showed them ilitant group Hamas won 76 out of 132 seats in the legislative council and Abbas's Fatah movement lost its grip on parliament with 46 seats.

"I am determined to implement the program on which I was elected," Abbas said.

"It is a program which is based on negotiations as a means to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict with Israel," he added.

Abbas said that he would hold consultation with Hamas on the formation of a new government.

He said the coming government has responsibilities to implement the US-backed road map peace plan which aims to establish an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.Abbas also called for world pressure on Israel to end settlement activities, stop building the separation wall and release Palestinian prisoners.

Meanwhile, Israeli emergency cabinet meeting decided Thursday night that Israel would not negotiate with Hamas until it renounced violence and recognized Israel's right to exist. Enditem

Hamas victory throws Fatah supporters into shock

In the Palestinian streets in Gaza City, Fatah supporters were sad, shocked and disappointed after hearing the news that the ruling party was beaten by Hamas in the Jan. 25 parliamentary elections.

The result is really hard to swallow for them, because they were celebrating Fatah's victory Wednesday evening but woke up to a bitter defeat the next morning.

After all polling stations were closed Wednesday evening, exit polls conducted by several survey centers in the West Bank showed that Fatah won in the election with a slight edge.

Although the lead was tiny, Fatah supporters could not conceal their excitement and turned out in large numbers to the streets to celebrate the victory in advance.

However, on Thursday morning, everyone in Fatah was totally shocked right after senior Hamas leader Sheikh Ismael Haneya, who also headed Hamas' list, blew up a huge bomb by revealing that Hamas had won a majority of the parliament 132 seats up for grabs.

Shock, despair, excitement and exultation, all these mixed emotions were awash among the Palestinians after the elections.

However, whichever they supported before and whatever they think now, the Palestinians began to review the elections and think about the future for the whole Palestinian society.

Ahmed Abu Hussein, 23, a Fatah supporter from Gaza City, said Fatah had faced a conspiracy similar to the one in Baghdad, referring to the topple of Saddam Hussein's regime.

"It is a treason carried out by the Palestinian people against Fatah movement," he said.

Another Fatah supporter, 45-year-old Hussein Zaneen, called on Fatah to learn from this experience and start again rebuilding itself.

"Fatah movement has committed lots of mistakes over the last few years, and it should learn from these mistakes," he said.

Zeyad Hammad, a Palestinian who used to support Fatah but voted for Hamas in this election, said after hearing the results, the Palestinian people should work on rearranging their efforts to "manifest unity and form one Palestinian national government that include all parties."

When Fatah supporters are still reviewing the elections, supporters for Hamas have begun looking ahead and contemplating the future.

"We hope that the victory Hamas has achieved wouldn't make it forget its people and their suffering," said Salleh Oudeh, 32, one Hamas supporter from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.

"We are going to face a new era in the Palestinian history and all of us should work shoulder to shoulder," said Qudeh.

Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri, who won as a new parliament member, announced on Thursday that Hamas won 77 seats out of the 132 Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) seats up for grabs.
 
Al-Masri told reporters that Hamas also won 44 seats out of the 66 seats in the district voting.

Right after Hamas announced its victory in the election, senior Fatah leaders conceded defeat.

Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Fatah leader in Ramallah in the West Bank, said he telephoned Haneya and congratulated him on Hamas' victory in parliament.

Shortly afterwards, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei announced his resignation to pave the way for a new cabinet dominated by Hamas.

However, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Fatah will not join a new government dominated by Hamas, but will remain an opposition party.

The Palestinian Central Election Commission is expected to announce the official result at 7:00 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Thursday.

Editor: Yan