Hamas Leader Re-elected Ahead of General Elections

Yahya Sinwar on Wednesday was declared the winner of the Gaza Strip’s Hamas elections, and was re-elected to a four-year term as leader of the tiny Palestinian coastal enclave. Hamas, which is designated by the United States, the European Union and Israel as a terrorist organization, will now prepare for the May 22 general parliamentary elections against the West Bank-based Fatah group. Gaza, which is home to some 2 million Palestinians, and the larger West Bank, where over 3 million Palestinians live, have been separately ruled by the opposing factions since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007. The apparent truce between the groups and the coming legislative elections are slated to be followed by historic presidential elections, in which longtime Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas could be unseated.