Ismail Haniyeh elected new Hamas chief

Abbas has now signed an order exempting residents of Gaza from paying taxes. The current order did not receive such approval and is therefore invalid.

Haniyeh, a former Hamas prime minister in Gaza, could be hampered in his new leadership role by movement restrictions.

Gaza-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was elected chairman of the Hamas Politburo, outgoing Politburo Chairman Khaled Meshaal said on Saturday. There is scant mention of any obligations to the welfare of the nearly 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza. He lives modestly in the Shati refugee camp.

The Gaza border authority said on Saturday that "more than 20,000 Palestinian citizens, who are considered humanitarian cases, are stuck in Gaza and desperately need to travel abroad" for treatment. He is now expected to leave the Gaza Strip and reside overseas. The Palestinian group also continued to back the "armed struggle" against Israel. It's part of an attempt to force Hamas to cede ground in Gaza after years of failed reconciliation attempts.

"Electing Haniya and holding the well-organised internal elections on time were made in spite of the situation that Hamas is passing through", said al-Qanoua, adding "this reflects how powerful Hamas movement is". Sanwar has close ties with Iran, which provides Hamas with weapons and training.

It's not clear which direction Haniyeh will choose for Hamas.

Netanyahu expressed the same sentiments in his new video, which targeted the media's coverage of the new Hamas policy document. "Sometimes they succeed and other times they don't, but their philosophy is to keep good relations with everybody".

However, Hamas officials said the document in no way amounts to recognition of Israel as demanded by the worldwide community.

The new program omits the old charter's specific language about seeking Israel's destruction and raises the possibility of a Palestinian state in lands Israel occupied in 1967, but only as a step toward "liberating" all of historic Palestine.

He escaped assassination in September 2003 when an Israeli aircraft bombed a house where he and Yassin were meeting, yet Haniya was instrumental in securing a halt to Hamas attacks inside Israel since early 2005.

Netanyahu took issue with a series of reports in the Western press this week about a declaration Monday from one faction of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas that the group wants to restore the 1967 borders with Israel.

Majdalani said that at the end of last month the Authority had officially requested Israel to stop deducting the cost of Gaza's electricity consumption from the PA revenues it collects, but Israel chose to ignore the request.

Israel intends to begin building a large barrier that will make it impossible for underground tunnels from Gaza to reach into Israel. Major world powers leaned toward Israel and condemned Hamas' firing of rockets on Israeli towns and settlements.