Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya(R) shakes hands with Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Parliament Ahmed Bahr after lawmakers voted for the long-awaited coalition government in Gaza City. A landmark coalition government uniting rival factions took power on Saturday, vowing to end a year-long international boycott that has crippled the economy of the Palestinian territories.[AFP]

The new Palestinian unity government holds its first cabinet meeting in Gaza City on Sunday, with ministers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank participating from Ramallah via video link.

The landmark coalition uniting rival factions Fatah and Hamas was sworn in on Saturday, vowing to end a year-long international aid boycott that has crippled the economy of the Palestinian territories.

Israel has refused to have any contacts with the new government, saying it fails to meet any of the Quartet's three conditions for acceptance -- renouncing violence, recognising Israel and honouring past peace accords.

Ministers in the West Bank will have to take part in the new administration's first cabinet meeting by video link because of Israeli restrictions on travel between the Palestinian territories.

The new government unites the secular Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas with the Islamist Hamas movement of prime minister Ismail Haniya.

But the new team seemed unlikely to meet international demands as Haniya on Saturday defiantly proclaimed the Palestinians' right to resist against Israel.

Israel called on the Quartet of Middle East mediators -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- to maintain the aid freeze imposed on the Palestinian Authority one year ago after the rise to power of Hamas.

Haniya was both tough and conciliatory in his speech to parliament on Saturday, which was followed by a decisive 83-3 vote to approve the Fatah-Hamas coalition after months of political wrangling and deadly internecine clashes that killed scores of people.

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