US President George W. Bush is said to have embarked on a secret project for the armed overthrow of the Hamas government in Gaza.

Bush and the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, signed off on a plan for the Chief of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, to remove the Hamas authorities in Gaza, Vanity Fair magazine said based on confidential documents.

The report confirms allegations by Hamas and other Palestinians that the US has been providing Fatah fighters with weapons and money to topple the Hamas government.

The magazine uncovers three different confidential memos that describe the covert plan. One, prepared by US Consul-General in al-Quds Jake Walles, states how the Bush Administration intended for him to tell Abbas in Ramallah in 2006 to dissolve the Hamas government if it would not recognize the Zionist regime.

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"We believe that the time has come for you to move quickly and decisively," the text reads. "If Hamas does not agree within the prescribed time, you should make clear your intention to declare a state of emergency and form an emergency government explicitly committed to that platform. If you act along these lines, we will support you both materially and politically... We will be there to support you."

The second memo, drawn up by the State Department, asserts that means had to be found to produce an "endgame" by the end of 2007 for Abbas to remove Hamas from power by collapsing the government, and that he must be given the means to strengthen his forces.

The report also said that the third memo set out a plan by which Abbas would fire his own Fatah-Hamas "unity" government and rely on a security deal between Dahlan and Dayton to strengthen Fatah's forces.

Lieutenant General Keith Dayton was the US security coordinator for Palestinians, who reached a secret agreement with Muhammad Dahlan, the former Fatah security commander in the Gaza Strip to strengthen Fatah forces.