The Israeli army claimed that all of the casualties were armed members of the Popular Resistance Committees, and that soldiers opened fire at them after they fired at a building soldiers occupied earlier.

The recent attack came as several cabinet ministers of the Israeli government demanded the army to control the Philadelphi Route in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

Shas party chairman, Eli Yishai, said that the army should intensify its operations to control the route "in order to stop the army smuggling into the Gaza Strip".

Also, Israel's Defense Minister, Amir Peretz, said that the army will continue its attacks in the Gaza Strip.

Senior Israeli security sources said that the army will not carry a large scale offensive before Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert heads to the United States after three weeks.

The security sources called for a large scale operation in the Gaza Strip "in order to strike resistance factions, especially Hamas".

Yet, the sources added that such an operation will be complicated as a result of the density of population in the Gaza Strip which will lead to huge casualties among the residents and among the invading forces.

We gave Gaza to the Palestinians, we let them take care of their own problems out of good will, and they tempt fate and bring an end to their country and their government," Peres told the cabinet.

Trade, Industry and Labor Minister Eli Yishai from Shas claimed that Israel "must find a formula to take Philadelphi over again," referring to the 11.6-km long buffer zone route along the Gaza-Egyptian border.

Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog from Labor Party said that "there is no doubt the situation in Gaza is getting worse and requires significant and precise attention from Israel."

Minister for Pensioners Raffi Eitan said that Israel should reclaim control of the Philadelphi Route. He said Israel should find a solution to arms smuggling from Egypt but warned against recapture of Gaza.

"I believe we need to recapture the Philadelphi route. I think we need to deal with it in a pinpoint manner and not occupy it anew," he said.

Transportation Minister and former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz also spoke at the Sunday meeting and said that urgent decisions regarding Gaza needed to be made.

Israeli security sources expressed grave concerns recently on the growing smuggling activities between Egypt and the Gaza Strip through use of tunnels.

More than 20 tons of explosives and approximately 30 advanced anti-tank missiles were estimated to have been brought into the Gaza.

Hamas was also trying to upgrade the radius of its homemade Qassam rockets in hope that it would be able to hit targets 10 to 15 km away, according to Israeli security sources.

Last week, in its first and extensive operation along the Philadelphi Route since its disengagement in last summer, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops uncovered seven tunnels used to smuggle weapons into Gaza.

Mr Lieberman's proposal, which would do away with no-confidence votes, calls for the direct election of the prime minister, and allows him or her to appoint a cabinet without approval of MPs and to declare a state of emergency before gaining the endorsement of either the cabinet or the legislature.

He says the plan is a cure for the frequent collapse of governments and for corruption and inefficiency among cabinet ministers appointed out of political patronage.

"We need to choose a president that has four years of quiet like in the US," he said.

Hebrew University professor Zeev Sternhell, Israel's leading academic specialist on fascism and totalitarianism, yesterday termed Mr Lieberman "perhaps the most dangerous politician in the history of the state of Israel".

Although analysts believe the plan is unlikely to pass the required three Knesset readings, the cabinet vote was seen as a way of getting Mr Lieberman into the coalition, which is in need of allies.

Miri Eisin, spokeswoman for Mr Olmert, said entry by Mr Lieberman into the government would be strictly on the basis of the existing coalition guidelines.

"The prime minister says there are things he disagrees about with Lieberman. Lieberman may have said all sorts of things but if he is willing to join the guidelines of the present government without changing it, the prime minister is more than happy to have him join," she said.

Analysts say Mr Olmert's courting of Mr Lieberman is to shore up his Knesset majority, which now consists of 69 MPs, given uncertainty over how Labour, the junior partner, may vote on budget legislation.

Mr Lieberman's party holds 11 seats in the 120-member Knesset, making it the fourth largest, ahead of the once-dominant Likud party.

In a period in which Mr Olmert and his Kadima party, as well as defence minister Amir Peretz's Labour party, have been discredited by Israel's failure to win a clear victory in this summer's war with Hezbollah, Mr Lieberman has become the undisputed rising star of Israeli politics.

Public dissatisfaction due to a series of corruption and sex scandals rocking mainstream political life have also played into his hands.

Mr Lieberman's view of Israel is one of a country where only Jews have political rights.

"Israel is our home. Palestine is theirs," Yisrael Beiteinu's election platform wrote, referring to Israel's Arab minority, which comprises 20 per cent of the population. In an interview with HaZofeh newspaper last month, Mr Lieberman said: "The vision I would like to see here is the entrenching of the Jewish and the Zionist state.

"I very much favour democracy, but when there is a contradiction between democratic and Jewish values, the Jewish and Zionist values are more important."

His party's platform calls for the transfer of Arab areas of Israel to the Palestinian Authority and for annexing Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"He has a genuine social power base among the Russian immigrants and in the lower middle class among people who think the Knesset and supreme court have too much power," Professor Sternhell said.

"Now, by joining the cabinet, Lieberman is taking a giant step forward."

Mr Lieberman was seen as the brains behind Benjamin Netanyahu's successful campaign for the premiership in 1996 and Ariel Sharon praised him as the most capable minister in cabinets formed in 2001 and 2003.

But his extremist views have also come to the fore regularly. In 1998 he called for the bombing of Egypt's Aswan Dam in retaliation for Cairo's support for Yasser Arafat.

Shawki Khatib, a leader of Israel's Arab minority, yesterday urged Mr Olmert to back off from his burgeoning alliance with Mr Lieberman, whose rise, he said, should be a "red light for Israeli society".

Mr Khatib termed Yisrael Beiteinu a "fascist party" and added that history has shown every fascist party targets minorities.

The 15-year old house of Hani Totah, proud father of six children and one Arabian thoroughbred mare, was demolished upon orders by Israeli police in November 2005. A year later, he now sits in his brother's living-room explaining why he feels compelled to lie to his own children. "I want a good life for my children. But how can we have peace when the Israelis want their own house, but won't let me have one? And the Israelis want their children to grow up to be doctors and engineers, but want my children to be homeless criminals?" .
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Totah's house is but one of about one hundred family homes in the East Jerusalem district of Wadi Ij-Juus that have been targeted for demolition.
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The reason offered for this is that the houses are built too close to the Jerusalem Wall, although Totah and his neighbours are certain that the Israeli authorities simply do not want Palestinian communities to erect buildings within the confines of the city. Yet with rents prohibitively inflated, there is little other choice than to build one's own house, especially for families with children.
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Having earlier been forced out of the rather exclusive inner-city neighbourhood of Qatamon, Totah's family are now once again being chased off their land.
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A former rubbish-dumping site, Wadi Ij-Juus is now seen as increasingly attractive for expansion of the Old City's tourist facilities and contractors have long been eager to exploit the area. Israeli police and judiciary have also long tried to pressure Totah into relinquishing his land - a decision that he says would not be up to him alone but to the entire family as they are all old Jerusalemites and intimately connected to this "the most beautiful" of Palestinian cities.
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Tired of waiting, the authorities then decided to take the issue into their own hands. As Totah summarised it, "If we sell, they buy. If we don't sell, they take the land anyway." Without prior notice, they arrived in the middle of the day in order to tear the house down. Upon receiving a phone call from his frantic wife who at the time was home alone, Totah had to force his way through the police barricades blocking all the entrances to the valley and the doorway to his own home.
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Confused and angry, he attempted to dissuade the police and demolition workers present from going through with the demolition, explaining that they had received no warning. It was explained to him later on that what the authorities usually do is go to homes at times when they assume no one will be home, stick a notice on the door, take a picture, remove the notice and then leave. Totah hurried to the Israeli court in order to have the demolition order overturned. With the help of a lawyer, his emergency petition was successful and a court official informed the Israeli police at the scene of their decision to halt the demolition.
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As soon as the police heard this, the bulldozer was put to work, eating away at the red-tiled roof. By the time Totah's eldest son arrived home from school all that remained of the former family home was a large pile of cracked walls and tangled wires. His father, up until then having channelled his sorrow and anger into action, could no longer contain himself as he saw the tears roll down his son's cheeks. Occasionally stopping to salvage some belonging identified among the rubble, Totah stumbled about blinded by tears and disbelief.
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As if this was not enough, Totah and his family are now forced to pay NIS420 (Israeli currency) every month until year 2012 to cover the municipality's expenses for the demolition and the massive police presence. The thick stack of bills and receipts is a constant reminder of the violent injustice of the Israeli legal system vis-a-vis Palestinian citizens.
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Israeli media were quick to cover the story, an American embassy official was there to witness the destruction and all the Palestinian political factions expressed their vehement condemnation of the act. Although comforted by these expressions of support, the family were in dire need of practical help. After having spent two weeks crowded into a small canvas tent donated by the Red Cross, one of Totah's brothers insisted that they move in with him. The Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, ICAHD, has since taken upon itself to locate funding for rebuilding the house and in helping with the construction.
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The rebuilding has, however, not been easy. The municipality has repeatedly warned the Palestinian construction workers that if they proceed with the work, they might be arrested and two workers have indeed been detained and later dropped off outside of a Jerusalem checkpoint. International volunteers from Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) and International Solidarity Movement (ISM) today joined in the work in order to act as some sort of deterrence against police interference. As wooden rafters were being hammered into place overhead, internationals cleared the broken tiles and other rubble from off what will eventually become the floor of the house.
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Totah's young boys eagerly joined in, shovelling stones and shards of glass into buckets with their bare hands. Every once in a while, they would stop to listen to their father explaining how beautiful their home used to be, snuggled in between friendly neighbours and with lovingly tended flowerbeds at the back - now a pile of rubble, a home, a crime-scene.
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As they sifted through a pile of sand, one of the boys found a collection of shiny stickers which he carefully dusted off and put in his pocket. He glanced up at one of the international volunteers, flashing a shy little smile, as if embarrassed over his sudden nostalgia.
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In the afternoon, a cement truck arrived and the construction workers proceeded to guide a giant hose spitting out wet cement at high speed around the roof. Half-way, the cement supply ran out and the second truck had not yet arrived. A few tense phone calls later, it was explained that the missing truck was stuck at a checkpoint somewhere in Jerusalem. Totah sat himself down on a rock to wait. "I look calm but my heart is beating hard in my chest. They have to hurry, the police could be here at any minute and that would be it." Fortunately, the truck arrived only moments later and the work could continue. Now, the cement must be let to dry for at least five days and so work is suspended until after Eid.
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It is estimated that the house, which when finished will be about half the size of the original home, will take a couple of more weeks to complete.
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Until then, Totah and his family are still living with one of his brothers.
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For two of his other brothers, the home demolition proved the last straw.

Afraid for their families' safety, they now live in the USA and have no plans on returning to Palestine in the near future. "You must understand", Totah says. "We are from Jerusalem, not Nablus or Ramallah or Bethlehem.

We have more then 300 years of history in this very area. If we cannot live here, we would rather move to somewhere completely different" .

Grateful for the fact that no one was injured during the demolition operation and that his family is still united and strong, Totah seems determined to face the future with the careful optimism of someone who has decided once and for all to overcome every obstacle. "Hate does not come easy", he remarks as we are watching the video footage of his house mercilessly being torn down, "but these kinds of things make people so angry they lose their minds. I do not want this to happen to my children. And it does not have to happen to them. The only way to win is through love.

When you love people and people love you, there is no one who can beat you. When you rule by force of power, you are always under threat" .

This report combines the reporting of eight Palestinian and Israeli news sources to document the violence perpetuated by the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) in the Nablus region. The various news sources were used to generate an accurate and complete report, and the factual differences in reporting were taken into account and investigated. Sometimes it was not possible to locate arrestees names, or places of birth, though this information was recorded whenever available.

The invasions of villages of the Nablus region were noted, though the invasions of the refugee camps and city were not because of the regularity. Nablus Old City, Balata Refugee Camp, Askar Refugee Camp and Ein Beit el Ma Refugee Camp (known simply as Ein) are invaded nearly every night. The Old City as well as Askar and Balata Refugee Camps have rarely gone 24 hours without the presence of IOF soldiers firing at citizens. Because of the regularity of these invasions, and the presumption that they are occurring each and every day, invasions are only noted when they involve significant property destruction, arrests, injuries or deaths.

In thirty days in the Nablus region:

6 Palestinians were killed.
At least 18 Palestinians were injured by IOF attacks.
At least 63 Palestinians were arrested.

Below you will find a day by day account of incidents of arrests, injuries, killings, village invasions and other such incidents of occupation violence.

September

Tuesday 19th -
IOF stormed Askar refugee camp, invaded houses in Nablus city, and invading homes in Osarin village, southeast of Nablus city. In total, seven people were arrested:
- Rashad Yassein, 16, from Askar camp
- Fadi Abu Koshik, 18, from Askar camp
- Bara'a Abu Ja'far, 21, from Nablus city
- Amin Qdili, 20, from Osarin village
- Turki Adili, 20, from Osarin village
- Salim Azimah, 19, from Osarin village
- Haitham Adili, 20, from Osarin village

Wednesday 20th -
IOF invaded Beit Furik village, east of Nablus city, and arrested Firas Mlitat, 26. Later that day, another unnamed Palestinian male was arrested at Jit checkpoint.

Thursday 21st -
During an incursion into Nablus city nine Palestinians were arrested:
- Ferass Militat, 30
- Nafeth Ahmad Al Faqeeh, 23, from the Hebron region
- Mohammed Ahmad Al Faqeeh, 21, from the Hebron region
- Yousef Ahmad Ayed Al Faqeeh, 20, from the Hebron region
- Nassem Al Khzari, 32
- One unnamed woman from Balata Refugee Camp
- Two unnamed resistance fighters, from Nablus city

Sunday 24th -
IOF fired at a Palestinians taxi approaching Nablus from Ramallah, injuring four people:
- Ali Mohammed Al-Aqra, from Qabalan village, suffered a head injury
- Maged Snuber, 33, from Qabalan village, was shot in the left hand
- Jamil Abdur-Rahman, from Qabalan village, was wounded in the hand and back
- Mohammed Al-Aqra, from Qabalan village, shot in the back and suffered hand injuries

Tuesday 26th -
IOF invaded Nablus Old City and shot Amjad Anabtawi, 22, from Nablus Old City. Anabtawi was shot in the chest and critically injured.

Wednesday 27th -
IOF invaded Balata Refugee Camp, and injured three unnamed Palestinian males. Soldiers attacked the Qattaui building, arresting three people:
- Ala' Shary'ah, 21
- Jihad Yusef Shamah Dukan, 17
- Abdullah Khaled Mahmod Qatari, 17

Three unnamed Palestinian males from Nablus Old City were also arrested that night.

Thursday 28th -
IOF invaded Rujeib village, south of Nablus, and Assira Al-Shamalila village, north of Nablus. Homes were invaded and searched and private property was destroyed.

IOF invaded Balata refugee camp, and destroyed a number of shops with an armored Caterpillar D9 bulldozer. Two Palestinians were arrested:
- Du'a Hussin, 20 (female)
- One unnamed Palestinian male.

Friday 29th -
IOF invaded Ein and Balata Refugee Camps, as well as Nablus Old City, searching shops and destroying private property.

October

Sunday 1st -
IOF closed the line for senior citizens at Huwwara checkpoint, south of Nablus city center. Palestinian demonstrators threw stones in protest, and were shot with tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets.

Wednesday 4th -
Nablus city and Balata Refugee Camp were invaded in the night and two Palestinian males were arrested:
- Muhammad Abu Halimah, 17, from Nablus city
- Ammar Hassanain, 26, from Nablus city.

Nasir Hasan Mansur, 40, from Kafr Qallil village, south of Nablus, was shot in his foot by IOF soldiers stationed at Beit Ur checkpoint, while he was sitting in front of his house.

Thursday 5th -
- One unnamed Palestinian male arrested in southern Nablus city.

Friday 6th -
- Six unnamed Palestinian males arrested in Nablus city.

Saturday 7th -
IOF invaded Askar Refugee Camp. Two unnamed Palestinian males arrested:
- One unnamed man arrested south of Nablus city center.
- One unnamed man arrested in Salim village, east of Nablus.

IOF, stationed near the Apartheid wall, shot Farid Tu'amah in his abdomen, and left him bleeding for 20 minutes while the ambulance was banned from reaching the scene of the shooting.

Sunday 8th -
IOF invaded Balata Refugee Camp and killed one Palestinian male:
- Usama Saleh, 23, known locally as "Skipper," shot twice in the chest.
- Four additional unnamed Palestinian males were injured during the invasion.

Mohammed El-Haj Tirawi, 23, from Balata Camp shot dead while attempting to pass Huwwara checkpoint, south of Nablus city center, via a bypass road. The checkpoint was closed because of the Jewish holiday. During the attack by IOF soldiers, Ahmed Hazzaa Ramadan, 21, from Til village was shot in the shoulder and injured.

IOF arrested three unnamed Palestinian males from Nablus city.

Monday 9th -
IOF invaded Nablus city, targeting a number of houses in Jabal Al- Shamali, and Wad Al-Toffah areas. Three unnamed Palestinian males were arrested.

Wednesday 11th -
IOF raided Nablus Old City, as well as Ein, Balata and Askar Refugee Camps. Armored Caterpillar D9 bulldozers destroyed water pumps and pipes, and also causing damage to the central market in Askar Camp.

During the invasion into Ein Camp, one man was shot and killed:
- Abdullah Mansour, 29, from Jericho city, was shot and killed while looking out the window of a relative's house.

Five Palestinian males were arrested in Nablus Old City and Balata Refugee Camp:
- Fadi Ziad Galiz, 18, from Nablus Old City
- Mohammad Ziad Galiz, 25, from Nablus Old City
- Azmi Tawfiq Al Serafi, 20, from Balata Refugee Camp
- Abu Rish, 20, from Balata Refugee Camp
- Hussam, 20, from Balata Refugee Camp

Two unnamed Palestinian males were arrested near Huwwara checkpoint, south of Nablus city center, during the night.

IOF established additional closure barriers at Yitzhar checkpoint, south of Nablus, forcing Palestinians to use bypass roads.

Thursday 12th -
IOF at Huwwara checkpoint, south of Nablus city center, shot and killed Mohammed Waleed Mustafa Sa'ada, 20, from Til village, as he approached soldiers searching a taxi:

Two unnamed Palestinian males were arrested, one from Nablus city and one from Ein Refugee Camp.

Friday 13th -
IOF raided Beit Furik village, east of Nablus. Military vehicles entered the village, imposing curfew.

All men under the age of 45 were denied passage through Huwwara checkpoint, south of Nablus city center. One unnamed Palestinian male was beaten and thereafter arrested.

Sunday 15th -
A number of Palestinians were arrested under suspicious possession of a pistol and knife in their car.

Mohamed Rabai'a, 28, from Nablus city was arrested under unclear circumstances, while his brother was detained over one hour.

Monday 16th -
IOF invaded Nablus city and Balata Refugee Camp and arrested three Palestinian males:
- Motaz Affouri, 23, from Nablus city
- Iyad Tirawi, 22, from Balata Refugee Camp.
- An unnamed Palestinian male from Nablus city.

Tuesday 17th -
Two Palestinian brothers killed in Ein Refugee Camp, west of Nablus, by IOF Special Forces:
- Adel Abu Al-Rish, 24, shot with ten bullets in chest and head.
- Firas Al-Rish, 22
Several people were also injured. Soon after the assassination IOF reinforcements carried out a full invasion of the camp.

Wednesday 18th -
IOF invaded Beit Iba village, north of Nablus, and Nablus Old City arresting five Palestinian males:
- Khalid Ismael Ramadan, from Beit Iba village (brother of Mohammed)
- Mohammed Ismael Ramadan, from Beit Iba village (brother of Khalid)
- Fuad Safwan, 25, from Nablus city
- Ihaab Mahmad As'ad Karhash, 22, from Taluza village
- Ahassan Ali Hussein Vah, 25, from Nablus city

Sources:

Ma'an News Agency (Palestinian news source, online)
WAFA News Agency (Palestinian news source, online)
Independent Middle East Media Center (Palestinian-Israeli news source, online)
Al-Jazeera News (Arab news network, online)
Ha'aretz (Israeli newspaper, online)
Jerusalem Post (Israeli newspaper, online)
Ynet News (Israeli newspaper, online)
Israeli Defense Force (military press statements, online)

-This report was written by the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Nablus. The ISM is a volunteer, Palestinian-led, non-violent, direct action movement opposing the Israeli occupation. The four authors of this report have been living in Nablus' Old City for approximately three and a half months, and originate from Sweden, England and the United States.

The officials said they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Lebanese sources reported that at least 22 residents, including children, were killed by unexploded Israeli cluster bombs in southern Lebanon, since the war between Hezbollah and Israel ended with a UN-brokered ceasefire on August 14. At least 100 were injured by these bombs.

According to an AFP count based on UN figures, cluster munitions, mainly bomblets as small as a torch battery, have maimed at least 120 civilians.

A report by the United Nations and Human Rights Groups accused Israel of firing 4 million cluster bombs into Lebanon during the 34-day war with Hezbollah.

According to the UN report, 1 million cluster bombs failed to exploded, and continue to threaten the Lebanese civilians, especially children, who can mistake the ordnance for batteries or other small objects.

"The IDF holds phosphorus munitions in different forms," Edery said. "The IDF made use of phosphorous shells during the war against Hezbollah in attacks against military targets in open ground."

Edery also pointed out that international law does not forbid the use of phosphorus and that "the IDF used this type of munitions according to the rules of international law."

Edery did not specify where and against what types of targets phosphorus munitions were used. During the war several foreign media outlets reported that Lebanese civilians carried injuries characteristic of attacks with phosphorus, a substance that burns when it comes to contact with air. In one CNN report, a casualty with serious burns was seen lying in a South Lebanon hospital.

In another case, Dr. Hussein Hamud al-Shel, who works at Dar al-Amal hospital in Ba'albek, said that he had received three corpses "entirely shriveled with black-green skin," a phenomenon characteristic of phosphorus injuries.

Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud also claimed that the IDF made use of phosphorus munitions against civilians in Lebanon.

Phosphorus has been used by armies since World War I. During World War II and Vietnam the U.S. and British armies made extensive use of phosphorus. During recent decades the tendency has been to ban the use of phosphorus munitions against any target, civilian or military, because of the severity of the injuries that the substance causes.

Some experts believe that phosphorus munitions should be termed Chemical Weapons (CW) because of the way the weapons burn and attack the respiratory system. As a CW, phosphorus would become a clearly illegal weapon.

The International Red Cross is of the opinion that there should be a complete ban on phosphorus being used against human beings and the third protocol of the Geneva Convention on Conventional Weapons restricts the use of "incendiary weapons," with phosphorus considered to be one such weapon.

Israel and the United States are not signatories to the Third Protocol.

In November 2004 the U.S. Army used phosphorus munitions during an offensive in Faluja, Iraq. Burned bodies of civilians hit by the phosphorus munitions were shown by the press, and an international outcry against the practice followed.

Initially the U.S. denied that it had used phosphorus bombs against humans, but then acknowledged that during the assault targets that were neither civilian nor population concentrations were hit with such munitions. Israel also says that the use of "incendiary munitions are not in themselves illegal."

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Hamas, which leads the Palestinian government and is sworn to Israel's destruction, should be given more time to accept these demands.

"In the end, the policy will be set by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," an Israeli government official quoted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as telling the Cabinet at its weekly session.

In the meantime, Olmert said, "there is no change in the principles laid down by the Quartet and Russia," according to the official who took part in the meeting.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss policy with the media.

Meanwhile, one Palestinian was killed and 15 were wounded Sunday in a battle with Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Tamoun, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said. Israeli troops were there to arrest an Islamic Jihad militant.

Also Sunday, a Palestinian security officer allied with moderate President Mahmoud Abbas'
Fatah faction was killed in internal Palestinian violence in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian security officials said.

Since Hamas took over the Palestinian government last spring, Western powers and Israel have imposed crushing international sanctions in an effort to pressure Hamas to accept the Quartet's demands. So far, the Islamic militant group has remain unbowed, even though the sanctions have rendered it unable to pay 165,000 civil servants who provide for one-third of Palestinians.

Olmert said Russian officials did not urge Israel to soften its stance regarding Hamas during his three-day visit to Moscow last week.

At the same time, he acknowledged that while Russia has become more evenhanded in its approach to Israel, Moscow could not be expected to totally reverse its historical support for the Palestinians.

In an interview published Friday in the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA, Lavrov said Hamas could "move gradually toward accepting" the international conditions.

"Demanding now that Hamas fully accept the Quartet's conditions, such as the recognition of Israel, the denunciation of violence against Israel and the acceptance of all existing agreements is unrealistic at the present stage," Lavrov said.

After Hamas won parliamentary elections in January, Moscow invited the militant group's leaders to visit over Israeli objections.

Lavrov told Olmert in Moscow that keeping up contacts with Hamas could help to moderate them. Olmert told the Russians he disagreed.