Ismail Haniyeh elected new overall leader of Hamas

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Ismail Haniya's election as Hamas chief is another sign that the Islamist movement is seeking to soften its image and show it can offer a viable alternative to Mahmud Abbas, analysts said.

The new head of the Hamas Political Bureau said on Monday that the issue of prisoners inside Israeli jails is at the top of the movement's priorities, Anadolu has reported. I am sure the new leadership will lead a policy of cooperation and will work to release the prisoners and lift the siege [on Gaza]. Hamas ignored the dismissal and a Haniyeh-led Hamas government remained in place in Gaza, while Abbas appointed a rival administration in autonomous West Bank enclaves under his control.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials on the new leader.

"The new Hamas document says that Israel has no right to exist, it says every inch of our land belongs to the Palestinians, it says there is no acceptable solution other than to remove Israel. they want to use their state to destroy our state", the prime minister said.

The announcement caps several months of voting among Hamas' far-flung members in Gaza, the West Bank, Israeli jails and overseas to select a replacement for Meshaal, who sought to step down.

Haniyeh's selection marks the final phase of the secretive Hamas elections.

A day later, an unidentified Israel Prisons Service official told Channel 2 television that the food was planted in Barghouti's cell as part of an IPS scheme to break the hunger strike.

Netanyahu argued that Hamas is still an organization that backs terrorism, and has no interest in peace with Israel.

"Ismail Haniya is the most appropriate person to promote this document to Arab and global leaders", said Gaza political scientist Mukhaimer Abu Saada.

The new Hamas leader has made his first public appearance, visiting people expressing solidarity for hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. He also said the Hamas government would be willing to work with Western governments that vow to support the rights of Palestinians. Prior to that, for 10 years, he worked for Hamas charities as well as at the Islamic University of Gaza. The new document no longer defines Hamas as "the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood", perhaps an attempt at better relations with Egypt, which has banned the Muslim Brotherhood and imprisoned many of its leaders. Mr. Lieberman said that if he were defense minister, Mr. Haniya would be dead within 48 hours if he did not return two Israeli men and the remains of two soldiers that Hamas is believed to be holding in Gaza. In 2013, Haniyeh was elected deputy head of the Hamas political bureau.

Founded in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, a close ally, Islamic Jihad is the second force in the Gaza Strip and focused entirely on the armed struggle.