Hamas on Sunday stated that Israel did not have the right to use money taken from Palestinian taxes - not even in order to buy medical supplies for Palestinians.

The statement came in response to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's interview to The New York Times on Thursday, in which he said that Israel would use Palestinian tax money to supply Palestinian hospitals with the medical supplies they needed.

Hamas cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hamad said the Palestinian Authority would seek international support to make Israel transfer the tax money to the Palestinians, Israel Radio reported.