GAZA CITY, 16 February 2006 — Hamas made its first key parliamentary appointments yesterday. Israel was considering to sever contacts with the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas named Mahmoud Al-Zahar from Gaza, one of its top leaders, as head of its majority faction in the legislature, which convenes on Saturday for its first session since the group won the Jan. 25 Palestinian election.
Aziz Dweik, from the West Bank, was chosen by Hamas as parliamentary speaker.
As the leader of Parliament, Dweik would become interim president, pending an election within 60 days, in the event of the death, resignation or incapacitation of President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah faction.
The appointments raised speculation Hamas would choose another of its leaders, Ismail Haniyeh, as prime minister. A Gazan, he is viewed by Palestinians as a pragmatist who has forged good relations with rival factions. Hamas officials have said they expect the group to announce its choice for the post as early as Saturday or Sunday, after Parliament convenes and before Israel holds its own election on March 28.
With the clock ticking toward formation of a Palestinian government, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni summoned advisers for consultations that one official said would focus on “funding for the Palestinian Authority in the Hamas era.”
Israeli officials have said Israel is trying to persuade donor nations to cut off support for the Palestinian Authority once a Parliament dominated by Hamas is sworn in. Hamas’ charter calls for Israel’s destruction.
The United States and Israel hope to isolate a Palestinian government headed by Hamas financially and diplomatically to pressure it to renounce violence, recognize the Jewish state and honor interim peace agreements, US and Israeli officials say. “You can call it isolation, you can call it a boycott, but you can also call it reality,” Israeli President Moshe Katsav told reporters in Athens. “We cannot renegotiate that which is already agreed.” Katsav criticized Russia’s invitation to hold talks with Hamas, saying it “erodes the position of the international community.”
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was a realistic way to foster future peacemaking. “Unless we engage Hamas, which gained power as result of legitimate, free and fair elections, nothing will change,” he said in Vienna.
— With input from agencies
