Palestinian president to ignore U.S., seek U.N. approval after Hamas battle results

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)

After bitter rival Hamas held its own in a fierce battle with Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has no choice but to override U.S. objections and seek U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine next week, his aides said Friday.

But even such recognition, likely to be granted, may not be enough for the Western-backed backed proponent of non-violence and a peace deal with Israel to stay relevant and counter the soaring popularity of Gaza's Hamas militants.

Abbas - formally the leader of all Palestinians but only in charge in parts of the West Bank - was in trouble even before being relegated to the role of spectator as Israel and Hamas fought for eight days, starting Nov. 14, then negotiated a truce with the help of Egypt that could lead to easing Israel's long-standing Gaza border blockade.

By comparison, years of effort by Abbas to negotiate the terms of a Palestinian state with Israel have led nowhere.

His West Bank government has been buckling under the worst cash crisis in its 18-year existence, sparking widespread domestic discontent. And Hamas, which seized Gaza from Abbas in 2007, emerged from regional isolation after the Arab Spring uprisings brought its parent movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, to power in key countries, including Egypt.

The Gaza fighting sharpened trends already evident before, said analyst Nathan Thrall of the International Crisis Group think tank. "Abbas was truly isolated before this, and this (Gaza) conflict looks like a disaster for him," he said.

Abbas had hoped the U.N. bid will allow him to seize the initiative after years of diplomatic paralysis. Under the plan, the U.N. General Assembly would approve "Palestine" - made up of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in 1967 - as a non-member observer state.

Palestine is far from being established, but U.N. recognition would affirm its future borders and enable the Palestinians to join U.N. organizations. Israel, backed by the Obama administration, opposes the U.N. bid as an attempt to bypass negotiations.

Abbas says he's willing to resume talks once the 1967 borders have been recognized as the baseline, something hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to do. Israel, while willing to cede some land, says it will not withdraw to the 1967 lines, and has instead moved half a million Israelis into settlements on war-won land.