Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Hamas of trying to establish its own state in Gaza.

Mr Abbas condemned Hamas as "murderous terrorists" and "coup plotters", over the group's takeover of Gaza last week.

He ruled out talks with the Islamist group - a rival of his Fatah faction - but said the ongoing crisis should not prevent peace talks with Israel.

A Hamas leader in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, condemned Mr Abbas' speech as "full of lies".

"It was a long speech full of lies and fabricated stories... it is inappropriate for any president of a people to shut the door to dialogue with an integral part of his people whose weight and size he knows full well," Mr Hamdan said.

Last week, Hamas militants seized bases and government compounds in Gaza from rivals Fatah, which Mr Abbas heads.

Mr Abbas said the takeover was a premeditated attack agreed with unspecified "foreign elements" in the region.

It was his toughest speech since the escalating violence in Gaza culminated in last week's showdown, and left no room for misunderstanding his position on Hamas, says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Ramallah.

'Assassination bid'

In the wake of the Gaza takeover Mr Abbas sacked the Palestinian government, led by Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas, and replaced it with an emergency cabinet.

The president said talks with Israel should resume despite the crisis, calling on the international community to convene a conference to start peace talks.

"The atmosphere is not preventing a start to negotiations," he said.

He was speaking at a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), an umbrella political group, in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

"There is no dialogue with those murderous terrorists," Mr Abbas said, referring to Hamas militants.

Mr Abbas accused Hamas of trying to assassinate him during a planned visit to Gaza a month ago, saying he had seen videotapes in which militants discussed explosives that would be used to kill him.

The president said Hamas had given Israel an excuse to "punish an entire people" and warned Israel not to take advantage of the upheaval to separate Gaza from the West Bank.

Stranded Gazans

Meanwhile, at least five sick Palestinians who had been trying to flee the Gaza Strip crossed the border into Israel for urgent medical treatment, Israeli officials said.

A teenager with leukaemia and at least four others passed through the tunnel at the Erez crossing in Israel, after Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the army to let wounded Palestinians through the crossing for medical assistance.

All foreign nationals living in Gaza were also allowed to cross into Israel.

Dozens of people have been stranded at the Erez border crossing since Hamas seized control of Gaza.

Most people fleeing have been denied entry by Israel, which controls the crossing, on security grounds.

Aid agencies were allowed to cross the border to deliver food and medical supplies, but the UN has warned of food shortages in Gaza within two weeks unless Israel lets normal shipments through.

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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas