Palestinian parliament on Saturday approved a unity government aimed at halting factional fighting and ease a crippling Western financial embargo.
In his speech, President Mahmoud Abbas stressed the search for peace, while Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said the new government upheld the right to "all forms" of resistance against Israel.
"This national unity wedding has received an Arab and international welcome, which we hope will be transformed into practical steps to end the siege," Abbas told lawmakers. He added the Palestinian people "reject violence in all its forms" and seek a comprehensive peace "based on negotiations."
The Palestinians, he said, extend their hand to Israel "to achieve the peace of freedom and equality," and urge it to make a "mutual commitment ... to stop all violence."
On his part, Haniyeh stressed the option of resistance. "The government affirms that resistance in all its forms, including popular resistance to occupation, is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people," he said. "Our people have the right to defend themselves from continuous Israeli aggression."
In hus speech to parliament, Haniyeh said that the new government seeks to establish an independent state in the lands Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast War, with Jerusalem as its capital.
Eighty-seven of the 132 Palestinian Legislative Council's members gathered in Gaza and Ramallah in a video-linked session. Forty-one lawmakers, including 37 from Hamas, could not attend because they are in Israeli jails.
Israel has already announced it won't deal with the new Palestinian government.
