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Source: https://jcfa.org/who-are-the-legitimate-palestinian-leaders/
Who Are the Legitimate Palestinian Leaders?
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch - On January 25, 2006, almost 20 years ago, the Palestinian Authority (PA) held its last elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), which functions as the Palestinian parliament. The result was a landslide victory for Hamas - the genocidal terrorist organization that executed the October 7, 2023, massacre - which won 74 seats in the 132-member PLC. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas invited Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to form the PA government, which he did on March 29, 2006. However, the U.S. and EU refused to cooperate with and to continue funding the elected PA government. In early 2007, Abbas deposed the Haniyeh government. Rejecting Abbas's illegal coup, Hamas seized Gaza in the summer of 2007, with some Fatah representatives in Gaza killed by Hamas. If one were to apply Western democratic values and give the PA elections their legitimate recognition, the inevitable conclusion is that Hamas is the legitimate leader of the PA. The Palestinians still despise Abbas and his corrupt Fatah party and, if given the choice, they would again elect Hamas. The writer, former director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria, is director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative at the Jerusalem Center.