JERUSALEM • A new Palestinian government platform drawn up by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad pledges, in an indirect swipe at the Islamist group Hamas, to prevent the use of violence in the name of Islam.

An official English-language translation, released yesterday, of the policy document said that Fayyad’s administration would build a clear-cut strategy to “enhance the status of Islam as a religion of tolerance”.

At the same time, the platform said, the government would prevent “the use of Islam to justify killings, exclusion of others and destruction”.

The phrasing was clearly aimed at the Hamas Islamists who took control of Gaza last month in fighting with President Mahmoud Abbas’ secular Fatah faction.

The group has accused Abbas, based in the West Bank where Fatah holds sway, of carrying out a coup by setting up the new government without Hamas, which won an election 18 months ago.

Palestinian officials on Friday confirmed that the new platform omits the phrase “armed struggle” and “resistance” against Israeli occupation.

Hamas has rebuffed international demands to recognise Israel and renounce violence, but a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has welcomed the new language.

Fayyad, a US-educated economist who enjoys international respect for fighting corruption and implementing reforms, presented the platform to Abbas on Thursday.

The revision of terminology that had appeared in the platforms of the previous two Hamas-led governments coincides with a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at resuming long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

In the platform, Fayyad reiterated that his government would “fully abide by bilateral and multilateral agreements signed by the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian National Authority, including those signed with Israel.”

Meanwhile, around 100 of the thousands of Palestinians stranded in Egypt crossed into Israel on their way to Gaza yesterday, but many left behind said they were barred for their political beliefs.

Egypt and Israel on Saturday agreed that 627 of the 6,000 stranded Palestinians, who have been living in increasingly dire conditions, would be allowed back to the Gaza Strip, with 100 crossing yesterday and 527 today.

Palestinians had been asked to register in Cairo for a seat on the convoy and the first 627 names on the register were selected to leave, a security source said.

But many said they were not allowed to register because they were supporters of Hamas.

“I went to the Palestinian embassy in Cairo to register my name, but they refused because I belong to Hamas,” one man said, declining to give his name.

Others said that the process was made easier for supporters of president Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, while Hamas members were not even being allowed to register.

The 100 were taken by bus to the Al Oja/Nizana cargo crossing south of the Rafah border terminal between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, which has been closed since Hamas’ violent takeover of the territory in mid-June.

From there they were taken through Israel to the Erez terminal in the northern Gaza Strip.

Some 6,000 Palestinians are estimated to be living in and around Rafah, often lacking food, medical care and basic amenities, since the border terminal closed more than 45 days ago. More than 10 people have since died there.

A security source said that Israel and Egypt were negotiating to arrange for the remaining registered Palestinians to go home.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that Washington had agreed to a 25 per cent increase in its military aid to Israel, which now will total some $30bn in the coming decade. Olmert said the additional aid will help achieve considerable improvements in Israel’s security.