The Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday accused US President George W Bush of violating United Nations resolution 194 on the return of Palestinian refugees and the payment to them of compensation.

According to Azzam al-Ahmad, the chief of the Fatah parliamentary bloc, Bush has offered just to compensate the refugees.

"The resolution must be dealt with completely and without dividing it," al-Ahmad told the London-based Asharq al-Awssat newspaper.

On Friday, the US president ended a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories in a bid to move forward peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The issue of refugees is one of the core final-status topics that await a preliminary agreement before they are put on the table for discussions.

Al-Ahmad says a similar offer was rejected by late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat during the 2000 peace talks in Camp David with the presence of former US president Bill Clinton and then Israeli premier Ehud Barak.

Meanwhile, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Saturday ruled out announcing Palestinian statehood in 2008.

"In 2008, we expect a peace deal specifying the core final-status issues and how to begin dealing with them," Erekat told reporters.

The PA, which renewed peace talks with Israel last month, is counting on a US role in pushing the slow negotiations.

"The success to reach such a deal is subject to the Israeli government's capability to stop the settlement buildings, remove checkpoints, stop the offensive and engage in serious negotiations," Erekat said.

According to Erekat, US President Bush announced the activation of a US, Israeli and Palestinian committee to oversee the implementation of the peace plan which ends with a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Israel and the PA launched peace negotiations on December 12 after participating in a US hosted peace conference in late November.

The Palestinians were hoping to announce their statehood this year.

In other news, Palestinian militants on Saturday fired several missiles at Israeli targets near the border with the Gaza Strip.

Abu Ali Mustafa brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), said it launched 10 home-made rockets at the southern Israel city of Sderot, saying the attack was in response to Israeli army raids in Gaza Strip and West Bank.

At the same time, another two groups, loyal to Fatah movement and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), announced they fired a missile at the Sufa crossing point in south- east Gaza Strip.

In the northern Gaza Strip, unknown Palestinian militants stormed the American International School early Saturday, destroying equipment and setting fire to several school vehicles before fleeing, the school's principal said.

The raid on the school located in the town of Beit Lahiya, was the second in three days, said school principal Rebhi Salem.

Earlier in the week, on the eve of US President George W Bush's visit to the Middle East, unknown assailants detonated several bombs at the school in a night-time attack, causing damage but no casualties.

The school has been run by Palestinian staff for more than two years after militants kidnapped two international teachers working at the school.

Ihab al-Ghussein, a spokesman for Hamas' interior ministry, condemned the attack and vowed to pursue the attackers.

Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007 by force, promises that it will restore security and stability to the volatile area.