The militant group Hamas expressed happiness on Wednesday at the death of former Israeli President Shimon Peres.

"The Palestinian people are very happy by the passing of this criminal who caused their blood to shed," a spokesman for the Islamic group, Sami Abu Zuhri, told the Associated Press.

Peres died early Wednesday, two weeks after suffering a stroke.

Hamas is sworn to the destruction of Israel. In 2007, it routed forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas and took over the Gaza Strip.

Gaza - 28 September 2016

1. Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, in his office

2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman:

"Shimon Peres was the last remaining Israeli official who founded the occupation, and his death is the end of a phase in the history of this occupation and the beginning of a new phase of weakness. The Palestinian people are very happy by the passing of this criminal who caused their blood to shed,"

3. Abu Zuhri in his office

The General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative said on Thursday that former Israeli President Shimon Peres appeared moderate but was "responsible for the settlement activities in Palestine, which is now the biggest obstacle to achieving peace."

Ramallah, West Bank - 29 September 2016

1. Mustafa Barghouti, General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative, sitting at his desk

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mustafa Barghouti, General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative:

"For many people Shimon Peres was a controversial figure. From one side, he looks moderate in comparison to extremists like (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and (Israeli Education Minister) Naftali Bennett. On the other hand, he was responsible for the settlement activities in Palestine, which is now the biggest obstacle to achieving peace. He was responsible, and the main architect of Oslo, which was an illusion of peace rather than peace. We lost an opportunity of creating real peace by ending occupation. What Israel needs today is a different generation - new people who believe in real peace, by ending the occupation which is now 50 years and by ending the system of apartheid that Palestinians are subjected to."

3. Street scene

Palestinians in the West Bank had mixed reactions to President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to attend the funeral of former Israeli leader Shimon Peres on Friday.

Abbas was one of the lone Arab voices to express his sadness over Peres' death, and his aides said he wanted to recognise Peres for his years of efforts to promote peace in the region.

Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who held every major office in Israel, including president and prime minister, died on Wednesday, two weeks after suffering a stroke.

He was 93.

Ramallah, West Bank - 30 September 2016

1. Various of people in cafe

2. Cafe exterior

3. Various street scenes

4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed Issa, Ramallah resident:

"There's nothing wrong with the participation of Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) at the funeral. As long as we signed a peace agreement with Israel (in the past) we don't want to return to the past, to war, to killing and to bloodshed. Since Abu Mazen was elected as president, his plan was to extend his hand for peace, and he said he was a man of peace. Peace is achieved by shaking hands, and by reconciliation, and by forgetting the past. Peace will not be achieved if we do not forget the past."

5. Cutaway

6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abu Monther al-Salaimeh, Jerusalem resident:

"I strongly condemn the participation of a president (meaning Mahmoud Abbas) and a father like him at a funeral for those who are making us bleed, I am totally against this."

7. Various street scenes

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, condemned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for attending the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres on Friday.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called Peres a "criminal" and said that by attending the funeral Abbas was legitimising the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.

Palestinians have been split since 2007 when Hamas gunmen ousted forces loyal to Abbas from Gaza in bloody street battles.

Repeated attempts at reconciliation have failed.

A senior Palestinian official who confirmed Abbas would attend the funeral said Abbas wanted to "send a strong message to Israeli society that the Palestinians are for peace, and appreciate the efforts of peaceful men like Shimon Peres."

Gaza Strip - 30 September 2016

1. Shot of Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman

2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman:

"Hamas condemns Mahmoud Abbas for attending the funeral of the criminal Shimon Peres and consider it a disregard for the blood of the martyrs and the suffering of the Palestinian people. It is a cover for, and an encouragement of a normalisation of the Israeli occupation."

3. Sami Abu Zuhri walking

Supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas clashed briefly on Tuesday with over a dozen Palestinians in Ramallah protesting their leader's attendance of the funeral of Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Abbas supporters waved flags of his Fatah political group and chanted slogans in support of the leader.

A group of protesters, mostly women, took to the streets to express anger at Abbas attending the funeral as well as his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The incident points at a divide in Palestinian society after Abbas made an unprecedented trip to Jerusalem to join a host of international figures attending Peres' funeral.

While Peres is viewed in the West as a visionary advocate for peace, his legacy in the Arab world is mixed and reaction has been subdued.

Animosity toward Israel remains strong in the Arab world, especially at a time of deadlock in peace efforts, and Peres is still associated with wars and settlement construction that took place during his lengthy career.

Abbas, however, was one of the lone Arab voices to express his sadness over Peres' death, and his aides say he wanted to recognise Peres for his years of effort to promote peace.

Abbas and Netanyahu, who have barely spoken to one another during the past seven years, shook hands and briefly chatted at the ceremony on Friday.

Abbas greeted the families of Peres, shaking hands and hugging dovish Israeli leaders before he was seated in the front row.

Ramallah - 4 October 2016

1. Close of commotion between pro-Mahmoud Abbas (President of the Palestinian territories) supporters and anti-Abbas protesters

2. Wide of Abbas supporters kicking anti-Abbas protesters

3. Abbas supporters running

4. Protesters in huddles

5. Pan left from Abbas supporters to women protesting Abbas attending funeral of late Israeli leader Shimon Peres on other side of road

6. Abbas supporters on bus with flags of Fatah political party

7. Various of Fatah supporters

8. Close of Fatah supporters playing music

9. Wide of demo

10. Close of women chanting in support of Abbas

11. Various of supporters chanting pro-Abbas slogans

12. Top shot of square in Ramallah

SHOTLIST

PLEASE IGNORE EARLIER EDIT AND USE THIS EDIT WHICH CORRECTS VIDEO

1. Wide of Turkish flags waving in street

2. Mid of Turkish flags waving over souvenir shop

3. Turkish flag waving in front of poster showing Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

4. Various of Turkish flags in street

5. Shop vendor arranging Palestinian souvenirs on shelves

6. Close up of scarfs showing Al Aqsa mosque

7. Mugs with pictures of various Palestinian and other leaders

8. Close up of mug with Erdogan picture

9. Shop owner Tareq Abu-Dia folding Turkish flags

10. Close up of piles of Turkish flags

11. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Tareq Abu-Dia, shop owner:

"I have been working here for twenty years, and this is the first time it happened to me that another nation's flag is sold more than the Palestinian flag, the Turkish flag in this case, and this comes to show that we love the Turkish people and we are all in favour of them, especially after what happened with the massacre in the sea."

12. Abu-Dia putting flag in a bag for customer

13. Customer leaving shop

14. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Nael Al-Rayes, shop customer:

"Day by day our love is becoming greater for the Turkish people and their brave and great stand."

15. Pan of street to office of Islamic charity group that organised the Gaza flotilla, IHH in Gaza (Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief, known by its Turkish acronym IHH)

16. Mid of signs outside IHH in Gaza

17. Wide exterior of school sponsored by IHH in Gaza

18. Pan of interior of school

19. Close of wall painting depicting boat with Turkish flag on it

20. Wide of construction site where IHH are building new homes

21. Mid of Palestinian and Turkish flags waving in construction site

22. Mid of home construction site

23. Construction worker working

24. Wide pan of construction site

STORYLINE

The Turkish group that bankrolled the aid flotilla raided by Israel has big plans for Gaza.

Its bearded 50-year-old leader has assumed hero status in the impoverished Palestinian territory, where he says his group plans to spend 25 (m) million US dollars on housing, medical care and education.

Mehmet Kaya, the Gaza representative for the Istanbul-based IHH, has been treated like a star wherever he goes since the deadly raid on Monday.

Gazans young and old gather to shake his hand, and he enjoys ready access to leaders of the territory's ruling Islamic militant group Hamas.

It's all part of Turkey's muscular push into the blockaded Gaza Strip and its growing ambition to be an influential player in the Middle East.

Turkey's popularity is clear to see in Tareq Abu-Dia's souvenir shop in Gaza City.

The exterior of his shop is adorned with Turkish flags, and inside he sells mugs and ornaments featuring the face of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"I have been working here for twenty years, and this is the first time that it happens to me that another nation's flag is sold more than the Palestinian flag, the Turkish flag in this case," said Abu-Dia.

"This comes to show that we love the Turkish people and we are all in favour of them, especially after what happened with the massacre in the sea," he added.

Israel accuses Kaya's group, Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief, known by its Turkish acronym IHH, of supporting terrorism.

The Turkish activists vehemently deny that, saying they're strictly involved in humanitarian efforts and have to deal with Hamas, since it is the authority in Gaza.

Kaya has gained new prominence since the six-ship flotilla tried to challenge Israel's three-year-old blockade of Gaza.

The attempt ended with Israeli commandos commandeering the boats and clashing with passengers on one vessel in a confrontation that left eight Turks and an American dead.

Seen as a kind of unofficial ambassador to Gaza, Kaya symbolises Turkey's dramatic shift toward Hamas' key patrons Iran and Syria, at the expense of its traditional alliance with Israel.

Ties had been warming gradually, but the sea raid pushed the fledgling partnership out into the open as Erdogan railed against Israel, accusing it of committing a "massacre" on the high seas.

Israeli-Turkish ties had been showing signs of strains even before the raid.

Erdogan was an outspoken critic of Israel's war in Gaza last year and in one high-profile incident, stormed off a stage he was sharing with Israeli President Shimon Peres at Davos in the days after the war.

Turkey's government unofficially sponsored the flotilla, which was transporting 10 thousand tons of aid and hundreds of activists.

In the weeks before the operation, Israeli military and diplomatic officials repeatedly urged Turkey to call off the flotilla - a request that was rebuffed in Ankara.

IHH insists it has no ties to Turkey's Islamic-leaning government, though its top fund-raisers are believed to be among Erdogan's core support group, the country's wealthy merchant class.

Signs of the warm Turkish-Gaza ties are popping up around the territory.

A Hamas statement quoting Erdogan as telling the Islamic militant group's leader, Ismail Haniyeh, by phone that "we will continue to support you even if we remain alone" was widely distributed and posted on mosque walls in Gaza this week.

The IHH is renovating the port, funding a Turkish-Palestinian school and plans to build a hospital and apartments for Gazans made homeless during the war with Israel early last year.

The group also supports 9,000 families with money and food parcels, and is hosting computer and sewing courses for women, Kaya said.

Israel imposed the blockade after Hamas, which most Western countries consider a "terrorist organisation", seized power in Gaza and stepped up rocket fire into Israel.

The United Nations, which was to lead reconstruction efforts after the Gaza war ended early last year, has been paralysed because Israel does not allow in building materials.

UN aid agencies are not permitted to buy goods brought in through Gaza's smuggling tunnels.

Groups like IHH have filled the void because they can use black market goods and - unlike the international agencies - are under no obligation to stay away from Hamas.

In the war-ravaged Gaza neighbourhood of Izbet Abed Rabbo, IHH is building a three-story apartment block for families made homeless during the Gaza war.

The 250 thousand US dollar project provides jobs for 100 people.

As the IHH shot to attention, so have Israeli accusations that it supports terrorism.

Israel has been trying to defuse widespread international anger over the sea raid, arguing that its troops came under premeditated attack and fired in self defence.

The IHH's website shows its founder warmly embracing Hamas' exiled leader, Khaled Mashaal, in Syria.

Hamas has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks.

The Israeli foreign ministry accuses IHH of being involved with "terrorist operations".

Israel's Shin Bet security service says the group is a major player in raising funds for Hamas.

Despite such claims, the IHH, unlike Hamas, is not among some 45 groups listed by the US State Department as "terror organisations".

IHH board member Omer Faruk Korkmaz said his group is strictly involved in delivering aid.

Gaza residents say they appreciate the IHH and Turkey for spotlighting Israel's blockade on the territory.