The new main leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh (54), who was elected today to succeed the long-time leader Khaled Mashal, is a former prime minister from the Palestinian organization in the Gaza Strip. Born in the al-Shati refugee camp in the Palestinian territory, he was the personal secretary of the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, Ahmed Yassin. When Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006, Haniyeh was chosen to form the organization's first government. He resigned from the post after the Islamist Hamas and rival secular Fatah agreed in 2014 to form a unity government. That government, however, never came to life. For four years, Haniyeh was Khaled Mashal's deputy, that is, the second man in the political bureau of Hamas. His first task is expected to be to deal with the growing tension between Hamas and Fatah. In recent weeks, Fatah's leader, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has warned that he will put financial pressure on Hamas, including cutting wages and aid to Gaza, in order to force Hamas to relent and re-establish PA-dominated control of the territory. Fatah, and thus Abbas would really be a representative of all Palestinians, not just the West Bank where he now rules. Hamas has previously strongly criticized Abbas's political program, which is based on the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, with East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip - territories that Israel conquered in the 1967 Six-Day War. However, in its recently published new political program, Hamas indicated for the first time that it would still accept Palestine within those borders, but only as a temporary solution. Israeli media state that Haniyeh, although a former prime minister, was the most powerful and dominant figure of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It is believed that he will now travel between that territory and Doha, where his predecessor Mashal lived in exile. Haniyeh is considered a very charismatic personality and a talented speaker, as well as a man who successfully promoted and benefited from his humble lifestyle. Over the years, he created a network of contacts and alliances with other Palestinian factions in Gaza, primarily Islamic Jihad. He is well known in Qatar, which is the main donor to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and he is also known in Turkey, which is the main Islamic patron of Hamas, and they even know him in Iran. Mashal, who did not run to remain at the head of Hamas, expressed his belief that the new leadership will wisely lead the organization and work towards the liberation of Palestinian prisoners and the lifting of the blockade of Gaza. Israeli officials have not yet commented on the change in Hamas leadership.
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