Ramallah/Gaza  - The European Union's decision to boost its ties with Israel sparked mixed Palestinian reactions Tuesday.

While the radical Islamic Hamas movement ruling Gaza slammed the move, the West Bank-based administration of President Mahmoud Abbas and Acting Prime Minister Salam Fayyad spoke of a "positive development" because the EU had taken into account Palestinian objections.

The EU on Monday "welcomed" Israel's request to upgrade ties with the bloc and said it was ready to do so "gradually." But the EU linked concrete steps to progress in the peace process, and gave no timetable.

The Palestinians, as well as other Arab governments, notably Egypt, had lobbied against an EU acceptance of Israel's request. Fayyad had sent a letter to EU countries last week, urging them not to upgrade relations with Israel, unless it halted construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

"Even though it (the EU decision) did not completely meet the Palestinian requirements, it nevertheless has put conditions on upgrading these ties with Israel," Riyadh Malki, the spokesman for the Fayyad government, told Voice of Palestine Radio Tuesday.

A Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, however, charged that the EU decision to strengthen relations "with the Zionist entity" "would encourage the enemy and give it a green light to continue with its crimes it carries round the clock against our people."

"The decision shows complete bias toward the Zionist entity and a denial of rights, Barhoum told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, calling the move "dangerous" and a threat to "security and stability in the region."

The decision "is an indication that America still controls the decisions of the European Union," he charged.

The EU has included Hamas in its world list of terrorist groups.

The "Quartet" of Middle East peace mediators - the US, EU, Russia and the United Nations - boycott Hamas, which beat Abbas' rival Fatah party in January 2006 parliamentary elections, because of its refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence, and accept past interim peace deals calling for a two-state solution.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry statement Monday said Israel-EU ties will be upgraded in three areas, including intensified diplomatic cooperation - meaning more and regular meetings between top officials of both sides.

Israel will also participate in European plans and agencies, and is to sign an aviation agreement with the EU that is expected to lower prices for both sides.

A joint working group will also examine whether a future Israeli integration into the European single market is possible.

The announced upgrade "will usher in a new area in Israeli- European relations," the statement said. (dpa)