By Suleiman al-Khalidi

AMMAN, July 1 (Reuters) - Jordan's King Abdullah on Sunday urged Hamas Islamists to give up its control of the Gaza Strip and warned a political separation from the West Bank would deal a catastrophic blow to Palestinian hopes for statehood.

Hamas last month routed forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who responded by sacking a unity government led by the Islamist Ismail Haniyeh and appointed a new administration -- events that effectively led to political separation between Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

"We warn that consolidating the separation of the Gaza Strip from the West Bank will have catastrophic results on the Palestinians," King Abdullah told the independent Al Ghad daily in his most outspoken comments on Hamas's seizure of the enclave two weeks ago.

King Abdullah, who supports the Western-backed Abbas, said Jordan was worried by the outcome of the fighting in Gaza, which Israel quit in 2005.

"We ... call for the return of Palestinian legitimacy and the return of the links between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as one entity," King Abdullah told the daily.

"We call on our brothers to rectify the situation and not impose a policy of establishing facts on the ground that do not serve a national cause under occupation," he added.

King Abdullah said that Hamas's control of Gaza could only worsen the humanitarian plight of its 1.5 million inhabitants. U.N. officials have warned of a looming humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

"The people of Gaza who have been already exhausted by the siege and the difficult living conditions," Abdullah said.

The monarch rebuked the Palestinians for their infighting, adding only Israel was benefiting from their deepening divisions that could ultimately bury their hopes of attaining statehood.

"The existence of this situation weakens Arabs and Palestinians and in return this situation only helps the enemies of the Palestinian people ... and undermines their hopes to end the occupation and setting up an independent state," he said.

King Abdullah said he attended a regional summit last week in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to see if Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met Arab demands to ease life for Palestinians under occupation.

"We will see in the next few days whether Israel will move to release prisoners, unfreeze funds and resume regular contacts between the two sides," he added.

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