Profile: Ismail Haniya, Hamas' political chief

Ismail Haniya was born in the Shati refugee camp to the west of Gaza City and although a close associate of Hamas's spiritual leader, the late Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, he was relatively unknown until he headed the Hamas list that won the Palestinian legislative election of January 2006 and became prime minister.

It comes a few days after Hamas unveiled a revised charter that eased its position on Israel and distanced itself from Islamist groups in the region in what was seen as a bid to reverse years of growing isolation in the region.

It has dropped its long-standing call for Israel's destruction and has severed ties with the Muslim Brotherhood in a recent policy shake-up. Netanyahu referenced the new Hamas document, arguing that it still says "Israel has no right to exist" and "every inch" of the country "belongs to the Palestinians".

In its founding charter, Hamas calls for setting up an Islamic state in historic Palestine, including what is now Israel.

"It's my honour to shoulder the responsibility of leading the political bureau of this large movement of holy resistance", Haniyeh said after arriving at the tent in downtown Gaza City. Hamas ignored the dismissal and a Haniyeh-led Hamas government remained in place in Gaza, while Abbas appointed a rival administration in the West Bank.

They had previously lived in Ashkelon (or Asqalan in Arabic), which is today part of Israel and just next to the border with the Gaza Strip. "The PA has made a decision to stop financing the Hamas "coup" in Gaza and we will reiterate the demand that Israel stop deducting funds from our revenues in favor of Hamas and its coup". Israel and Egypt imposed a border blockade on Gaza after the Hamas takeover a decade ago, keeping the territory's borders sealed most of the time.

"Meshaal had already set in motion a new phase", he told AFP.

According to the Protocol on Economic Relations, a.k.a. the Paris Protocol, signed by Israel and the PLO in April 1994, Israel collects and transfers to the Palestinian Authority the import taxes on goods that were shipped there, and the income taxes collected from PA residents employed in Israel and the Israeli settlements.

He also described the Oslo Accords as "not only a fundamental compromise of Palestinian rights to the occupation, but were also a source of major division in the Palestinian arena over both means and objectives, transferring the conflict into the Palestinian domestic scene".

Until Hamas accepts to give up its control of Gaza, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued on Saturday a decree, which exempts the Gazan population from paying all taxes and fees to official departments and establishments of the Palestinian Authority (PA.).

The Israeli leader posted a video on Sunday that showed him throwing a Hamas policy paper, which attempted to soften the group's image, into a trash can.

"Hamas realized it has lost a strong strategic ally like Egypt, and chose to reopen communication channels with Cairo" under severe pressure amid uncertain conditions in the region, said Al-Oraby, who is also a member of the Egyptian parliament.

Hamas has run Gaza since 2007 but is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel, the United States and the European Union.