Residents of the Gaza Strip, ruled by the militant Hamas, are watching frustrated from the sidelines as the West Bank-based Palestinian leadership pushes for the long-held dream of statehood at the United Nations.

The move for UN recognition has created a quandary for the Islamic militant Hamas, which violently consolidated its hold on Gaza in 2007, a year after winning parliamentary elections. Their leaders can't publicly oppose the idea of statehood, but they are wary of giving a boost to their West Bank rival, internationally backed President Mahmoud Abbas. They also don't want to appear to recognize Israel, as the move implicitly does by calling for a state only on territories captured in 1967.

Palestinian leaders in the West Bank "forget the missing part, which is Gaza," said Taher Khalil, a 45-year-old retired civil servant and father of seven.

"We only know about this move from TV, we don't know what is right and what is wrong ... no one came out and told us what the future will look like after we submit the bid at the UN," he said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be before the UN General Assembly on Sept. 23. (Majdi Mahommed/Associated Press)

Abbas's Palestinian Authority is seeking recognition of an independent state on territories that Israel captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.

Israel occupies the West Bank and East Jerusalem and withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, but still blockades its coast. Israel also controls virtually all movement into or out of Gaza, with the exception of the Rafah crossing, where Gaza shares a border with Egypt. That border is under Cairo's authority.

Gaza has been mired in poverty, worsened by years of Israeli blockade since Hamas's takeover. Armed militants from Hamas and smaller factions regularly launch rockets from Gaza at towns inside Israel, drawing Israeli retaliation.

The Abbas government has wielded no authority in Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, since Hamas pushed out Abbas loyalists and set up an Islamic-oriented mini-state complete with government ministries, a military force and a postal service.

Hamas, allied with Iran and openly committed to Israel's destruction, does not support the UN move, but has largely kept a low profile, not openly condemning it. Instead, Hamas officials have chided Abbas — also known by his nickname Abu Mazen — for going it alone.

"Abu Mazen's decision to go to the UN without consulting with Palestinian factions about the negative and positive impact of such a move and with only partial Arab, Islamic and international support is something very risky," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

"We are talking about issues related to the fate of the Palestinian people," he said. "Such a move must be studied by experts and decisions should be taken by all the parties concerned, not individually."

Further complicating matters, the last time Palestinians held parliamentary elections, in 2006, Hamas won, and the group claims that it is thus the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, not the Palestinian Authority. The Abbas government is internationally recognized and bankrolled by foreign aid, but his term has expired and he currently governs by decree, with Israel holding overall security control in the West Bank.

1967 borders not good enough

In Gaza, souvenir cups are on sale commemorating the statehood initiative, and the UN bid appears to have become the talk of the town among average Gazans.

Awny Ouda, a 23-year-old student at Gaza's Islamic University, said he would not be satisfied with a state based on the lines Israel held before the 1967 war and wants one that replaces Israel.

"Abbas wants to give the remains of our lands and rights on a silver tray to the occupation," he said. "Recognizing the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders would deprive us of returning to our lands of 1948."

Rawan Hassan, a 42-year-old teacher, called the bid a "cosmetic step."

"The conflict with Israel is not over and it will never be over unless the Palestinian state is established on the ground and not on paper," she said.

Abbas's UN bid has put him in a showdown with Israel and the United States, both of whom object to the UN initiative and say Palestinian independence should come only as a result of peace negotiations. A successful UN vote will not change the situation on the ground, either in Gaza or the West Bank.

Abbas and his colleagues say they are turning to the UN in frustration after years of failed peace talks with Israel, and they believe recognition will improve their position if talks resume. International bodies like the UN and the World Bank say that after years of foreign investments and aid, the institutions necessary for statehood are in place in the West Bank.

Hanan Ashrawi, a West Bank legislator, said a successful UN bid could bring the rival factions closer together.

"If we do get a recognition at whatever level, it means it will also help in the process of reconciliation because it will send a message to all Palestinians that the issue is one of justice and legality and not of one of power politics," she said.