Hamas today challenged the legitimacy of the emergency government that is to be sworn in by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas later in the day.

The new Hamas-Fatah coalition was to set to clear a final formal hurdle today, approval by the parliament, before taking on the challenge of persuading a sceptical world to end a crippling year-long boycott of the Palestinian government.

Israeli leaders criticised the new Palestinian unity government today, saying the Hamas-Fatah coalition did not meet international conditions, including recognising the Jewish state’s right to exist.

The United States will shun a future Hamas-Fatah coalition government because it will not explicitly recognise Israel, the Palestinian president’s aides said today.

Hamas militiamen withdrew from the streets of the Gaza Strip today and returned to their normal posts after the worst day of internal violence since Hamas took control of the Palestinian government in March.