"This U.S. conspiracy and aggression must be translated into a national unity on resistance and restoring our rights," Rantissi said

Additional Reporting By Mustafa el-Sawwaf, IOL Correspondent

GAZA CITY, April 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Palestinian factions accused Thursday, April 15, U.S. President George Bush of killing the roadmap peace blueprint stone dead by supporting Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and denying Palestinian refugees the right of return.

They also asserted that by undermining all prospects for a just peace, the United States , the main Mideast peace sponsor, left the Palestinians no option but resistance against the Israeli occupation.

Following talks with Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon Wednesday, April 15, Bush claimed that "realities on the ground and in the region have changed greatly" and should be reflected in any final peace deal on issues as the return of refugees and the creation of the Palestinian state.

Mohamed El-Hindi, a leader of the Islamic Jihad movement, described the statements as a "coup de grace of the roadmap which was drafted by Bush himself."

The blueprint, sponsored by the United Nations, the European Union and Russia , stipulates the establishment of a Palestinian state side-by-side with Israel , which is urged to pull out to pre-1967 borders, by 2005.

"Bush’s statements torpedoed all foundations set by previous American administration in dealing with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," Hindi told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

U.N. resolutions call for Israel to end occupation of occupied Arab, including Palestinian territories, captured after the 1967 war.

They also brand as illegal all Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian areas both in the Best bank and Gaza Strip.

Khaled Al-Batsh, another leader of the group, called Bush’s denial of the Palestinians right of return as a "declaration of war" against the Palestinian people.

"Bush and Sharon will have to take responsibility for a new cycle of violence," he told Reuters.

U.N. General Assembly resolution 194 on Palestinian refugees states that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible."

The Palestinian Authority estimates the number of Palestinian refugees at more than 6.5 million.

In a statement sent to IslamOnline.net, Hamas described the remarks as "a clear adoption of Sharon ’s stance entrenching occupation and settlement construction and abolishing the right of return."

"The statements are a reflection of connivance between Israel and Americans to deny our peoples their historic rights," it read.

The resistance group called on all Arab and Islamic countries to condemn the U.S. policy shift.

"Bush’s statements are a flouting of the international legitimacy laws and would lead to more expansionist policies" in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said in a statement sent to IOL.

More Resistance

Leaders of the Palestinian factions vowed continued resistance against the Israeli occupation after Bush’s statements.

"All should back resistance now that Bush made his dangerous statement abolishing the right of return," said Hindi.

He called on the Palestinian Authority to "engage in a serious dialogue to support resistance to Israeli occupation."

The Islamic Jihad leader expected Sharon to escalate his army’s aggressions after getting "the U.S.’s green light" and a clear feeling of "satisfaction" with his policies towards the Palestinians.

"This U.S. conspiracy and aggression must be translated into a national unity on resistance and restoring our rights," Hamas leader in Gaza Abdel-Aziz Rantissi said.

He called on Arab and Islamic countries to activate boycott of American goods "in response to Washington’s biased policy".

Thirty-two draft resolutions criticizing Israel since 1972 have never seen the light because the U.S. used its Security Council veto to block them, the Guardian reported on September 24.

Bush had earlier rebuffed a request from his closest war ally British Prime Minister Tony Blair to deploy a U.S.-led "monitoring force" to act as a buffer between Israel and the Palestinians.