A Popular Resistance Committee spokesman threatened Saturday that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayad and his government are targets for military operations such as are employed against Israel.

Speaking to reporters in the Gaza Strip, PRC spokesman Abu Abir dubbed Abbas, Fayad and other members of the government the "Ramallah traitors" and vowed they will receive an "identical response as to the Israeli occupation."

The PRC is an umbrella organization for various militant groups in the Gaza Strip. Its members took part in the June 2006 abduction of Israel Defense Forces Corporal Gilad Shalit.

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In response to Friday's ommission of a call for "armed resistance" against Israel in the proposed PA government's platform, Abir described the cabinet as illegal and unrepresentative of the Palestinian nation.

Abir said Fayad's government supports the United States' policies and collaborates with "the Israeli enemy," as it damaged Palestinian resistance.

He added that his group only recognizes a government under the authority of deposed PA prime minister, Gaza-based Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Israel' willingness to open alternative border crossings to the Egypt-Gaza Rafah terminal would become a trap for Palestinian militant groups, the PRC spokesman said.

The Rafah crossing has been mainly closed since Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in mid-June.

Earlier Saturday, Islamic Jihad joined and the PRC joined Hamas' condemnation of Fayad's proposed PA government platform, which also calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state, and a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem.

"Fayad's government is linked with the Israeli occupation and the U.S. administration and so its stance is not astonishing," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told reporters in Gaza Saturday.

The Hamas parliamentary bloc had earlier confirmed it would vote no confidence on Fayad's government.

Abbas asked Fayad to head a new government to replace the Hamas-led coalition after the Islamic movement seized control of the Gaza Strip.

Khaled al-Batsh, an Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza, said that the Palestinian people must maintain the "right of resistance and fighting against Israel in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."

"I wonder why Fayad insists on ruling out the struggle choice from his program and acting as if we have an independent state," al-Batsh added, calling on the Western-backed economist to reconsider his policy.

The PRC also condemned Fayad's programme, saying the peaceful solution had been "experienced and brought no fruits except more losses of rights."

The PA government published its platform on Friday, which for the first time does not include a reference to armed struggle against Israel.

Nonetheless, the government stressed that it is committed to Abbas' call for a "popular struggle against the Israeli occupation."

Israel welcomed on Friday remarks by ministers that Palestinian Fayad's government program, yet to be presented to parliament, does not feature a commitment to "armed resistance" - unlike those of its Hamas-led predecessors.

The Arabic word muqawma, which literally means resistance and has appeared in all prior PA governments' platform, is generally understood to mean armed struggle. The term "popular struggle" includes, among other things, demonstrations and political activism.

Hamas rejected the plan, and vowed to continue the armed struggle against Israel, the radio said.

A group of Palestinian politicians, business people and other key political players have been working in recent weeks on an initiative to form a new political movement that would not be affiliated with either Fatah or Hamas. Several more prominent supporters of the idea are considered close to Fayad.

On Thursday, Israeli security sources said Palestinian security organizations loyal to Abbas have transferred information on terrorist plots in the West Bank to Israel, helping Israeli security services thwart terrorist attacks.