Hamas announces its PM choice

Hamas officially presented Ismail Haniya, one of its leaders in Gaza, as its choice for prime minister during talks Monday in Gaza with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, BBC reported.

Abbas was expected to ask Haniya on Tuesday to form the new government, top Hamas officials said.

Haniya, 43, said that he would try to form a coalition government with Abbas’ Fatah faction "that can shoulder its responsibilities in the political area and internal issues."

Fatah has refused to join a unity government with Hamas as has resistance movement Islamic Jihad. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP) said that it agreed in principle to join a Hamas-dominated government.

Hamas won 74 of the 132 parliament seats and could govern alone, even though nine of its candidates are currently detained in Israeli jails.

Haniya also criticized Israel’s decision over the weekend to withhold monthly tax and customs duties vital to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority. He dismissed the impact of such sanctions, saying that Arab and Islamic states would offset a drop in Western aid.

"The Israelis are trying to starve innocent people by taking money from our taxes, and we are going to fight this by all legal means," he said. "This collective punishment will not break the determination of the Palestinian people."

On Monday, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood announced an international fund-raising campaign and Iran called for pan-Islamic financial support.

The EU and the U.S., both major donors of aid to the Palestinian Authority, classify Hamas as a “terrorist” organization. They have been threatening to cut aid to the PA unless Hamas gives up anti-Israeli attacks and recognize Israel's right to exist, demands the group rejected as “blackmail”.

Despite international pressure on Hamas, the recent Israeli sanctions didn’t gain support abroad. The UN envoy to the Middle East, Alvaro de Soto, said that the new Israeli measures were "premature" and stressed that the funds belong to the Palestinians.

Israel's acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insist that Israel would "not hold contacts with the administration in which Hamas plays any part - small, large or permanent".

Acting Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged the international community to have "a united front regarding the legitimacy of the Palestinian
Authority in the Hamas era“.

In a separate development, Israeli occupation forces raided the West Bank city of Nablus on Monday.

Reports say Israeli soldiers killed Islamic Jihad’s top commander in the West Bank, Ahmed Abu Sharik, 30.

Medics said 23 Palestinians were also injured in the raid.