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| - Yahya Sinwar was re-elected Wednesday as the head of Hamas's political wing in Gaza, extending his tenure as the Islamist movement's de facto leader in the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian enclave. Hamas overall chief Ismail Haniyeh, currently based in Qatar, congratulated Sinwar and said the election marked "a victory" for the Islamist group which has controlled Gaza since 2007. Sinwar, a former commander of Hamas's military branch, served more than two decades in an Israeli jail before he was released in 2011 as a part of a prisoner exchange. First elected to the post in 2017, he faced four challengers this time, including Nizar Awadallah, the former head of Hamas's advisory Shura Council. Haniyeh added that the movement's smooth internal election process showed Hamas's "seriousness" ahead of Palestinian legislative polls set for May 22 and a presidential election on July 31, the first Palestinian votes in 15 years. "The movement's commitment to (internal) elections every four years confirms our deep faith in the principle of rotating power," Haniyeh said in a statement. Hamas will be a key player in the Palestinian vote, along with the Fatah movement led by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Fatah controls the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas, considered a terrorist organisation by many Western states, has fought three wars with Israel since 2008. The International Criminal Court has opened an investigation that in part will look at alleged war crimes that may have been committed by Israel and Hamas during a 2014 conflict. Hostilities have cooled in recent years, but sporadic rockets and other incendiary devices fired by Gaza by Hamas militants and fighters from Islamic Jihad still land inside Israel. Israel typically responds with air strikes, with few casualties reported in recent months. Gaza's economy, already suffering from a 50 percent poverty rate before the Covid-19 pandemic, has been further ravaged by closures imposed by Hamas to contain the spread of the virus. The UN and rights groups blame the blockade for much of the economic strife in Gaza, but Israel defends it as a necessary measure to limit threats from hostile Islamist forces. The two million Palestinians living in Gaza increasingly rely on financial support from Qatar. Doha-based Haniyeh is expected to stand for re-election soon. Hamas sources say he will run against his deputy Jamal al-Aruri and former Hamas chief Khaled Meshal. In addition to its political wing, Hamas has an armed branch that counts thousands of fighters in Gaza. az/bs/dv
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