Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will swear in a new prime minister and emergency cabinet on Saturday, a top aide said, replacing the Hamas-led government he fired after the group's bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip.

Abbas has tapped Salam Fayyad, a Western-backed independent lawmaker, to serve as prime minister of the new government in what Hamas Islamists said amounted to a coup.

"Salam Fayyad will finalize the formation of his government and the new government will be sworn in today," the Abbas aide said.

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The emergency government will be comprised of 11 lawmakers, the aide said.

The United States, Israel and European states plan to open the financial taps to the new government after a 15-month embargo of the Hamas-led administration pushed the Palestinian Authority to the brink of financial collapse.

Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi said Fayyad's cabinet faced daunting challenges, chief among them "to ensure the rule of law and to prevent the spread of lawlessness from Gaza to the West Bank."

The security challenge was highlighted in orders issued by Palestinian Police Chief Kamal el-Sheikh, who is based in the West Bank, to his men in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

He ordered the police, who have long been dominated by Fatah, neither to report to work nor to follow Hamas's orders.

"The police force is part of the Palestinian national security forces and its chief commander is the president," he said.

Abbas sacked the three-month-old unity government he formed with Hamas on Thursday after the group routed his forces in the Gaza Strip and began imposing a new order in the enclave after days of bloody civil war.

Haniyeh, who sits in Gaza, has refused to accept his dismissal as prime minister.

Under Palestinian law, Abbas can declare a state of emergency for up to 30 days. The state of emergency could be extended for another 30 days, but only after winning the approval of two thirds of the parliament.

Hamas has a majority in the parliament -- although Israel's arrests of nearly half of Hamas's deputies put that majority in doubt and also make it hard to reach a quorum. That could enable Abbas to keep the state of emergency in place longer.

Some Fatah and U.S. diplomats have argued that Abbas could rule by decree for six months to a year ahead of new elections.

Report: Dahlan prepares emergency contingency plan against Hamas in Gaza
The London Arabic language daily "Al-Quds Al-Arabi" on Saturday reported that Palestinian Authority Security Chief Mohammed Dahlan is preparing an emergency contingency plan against Hamas in Gaza.

According to the report, Dahlan has updated the Jordanian government on his plans in Gaza.

The report also stated that Head of Egyptian Intelligence Omar Suleiman slammed Dahlan for Hamas' rapid conquest of Gaza, holding him responsible for the anarchy coursing through the strip.

Suleiman reportedly questioned how thousands of Hamas militants managed to overrun twenty thousand Fatah members and accused Dahlan of relaying misleading information to Cairo about the deteriorating situation in Gaza.

Haniyeh rules out declaring Gaza a separate state
Ismail Haniyeh has ruled out setting up a separate Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip after his Islamists routed forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Asked if he intended to declare Gaza a state after taking control of the territory, Haniyeh said in an interview with France's Le Figaro daily published on Saturday: "No. Gaza belongs to all the Palestinian people and not just Hamas."

Haniyeh, who has refused to accept his dismissal as prime minister by Abbas on Friday, added: "Separation is not on the agenda and never will be."