Palestinians gloomy as Israel moves right

Palestinians reacted gloomily to Israeli election results today, as the likelihood rose of a right-wing government opposed to returning land for a Palestinian state.

"I am not optimistic about the next Israeli prime minister. They have different faces but the same policy. Livni or Netanyahu or Barak -- who would think of giving Palestinians their land back?" said Osman al-Natsheh, shopowner in Hebron.

Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and Tzipi Livni's centrist Kadima party both claimed victory late yesterday night, so it was not clear who would be prime minister.

But right wing parties secured a majority, including Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party which surged into third place on anti-Arab rhetoric. Ehud Barak's centre-left Labour party appeared to have made its poorest showing ever.

"Israelis voted for the right and against peace. We will not see progress in the peace process in the coming years," said office employee Ali Zaidan in Ramallah, the seat of Palestinian self-rule authorities in the West Bank.

Palestinians are still dealing with the fall-out of Israel's blistering 22-day land, sea and air assault on the Gaza Strip, which killed 1,300 Palestinians and left thousands wounded and homeless.

Israel said the operation was to stop rocket fire by militants into southern Israeli cities from Gaza. The coastal enclave has been ruled by the Islamist Hamas since 2007, when it fought the Fatah group of US-backed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in Ramallah.

Palestinians are sharply divided.

Abbas backs peace talks with Israel to establish a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, while Hamas, which refuses to recognise Israel, says only armed action will force Israel to evacuate Jewish settlements.

"We expect nothing from them because we are still divided," said decorator Abu Ali Shaaban in Gaza, where Israel has maintained a tight blockade on movement of people and supplies since 2007.

"We need to unite as they are united and then we can stand up and see what we can do with them. Until then, Hamas and Fatah can only blame themselves," he added.

Sahar al-Shabani, a student at Hebron University in the West Bank, said a government led by Livni might be better for Palestinians and the peace process, although Livni was a strong supporter of the Gaza war.

"As a Palestinian I look on Livni as a killer," she said. "But as a student, caring about who the next prime minister is, I would look to her as a leader who is capable of negotiating with the Palestinians."