GAZA, May 5 (UPI) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas congratulated new Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, as Hamas warned of a regional rebellion if siege persisted.
A web site for the office of the Israeli prime minister said Abbas talked to Olmert by phone Friday and urged him to resume negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian news agency, Maan, quoted chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat as saying "President Abbas offered Olmert a peace partnership between Israel and the Palestinians."
He said Abbas asked Olmert to arrange a meeting between them and the Israeli premier welcomed the demand "in principle" but no date was fixed for the encounter which Erekat noted would take place after Olmert's visit to Washington on May 23.
Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank demonstrated after Friday prayers against the international embargo imposed on the Palestinian people after Hamas won elections and formed the new Palestinian government.
A Hamas leader, Hassan Saifi, warned that a "third intifada" (rebellion) will break out on a regional level in case the embargo in the Palestinians persisted.
Speaking to demonstrators in Gaza City, Saifi said "Arab peoples should understand that if Palestinians remain under siege, an uprising will spill over all political and geographic boundaries and will turn balances of power in the region upside down."
Threatening anyone who tries to help America bring down the Hamas-led Palestinian government, he said: "We will bring down his head."
"America wants us to kneel down and become slaves, and we say no... we are free and sovereign in our country," he added.
The United States and European Union stopped much-needed monthly financial assistance to the Palestinians following Hamas' landslide victory last January, asking the Islamic militant group to recognize Israel, abandon violence and acknowledge past agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
