Ismail Haniyeh

Ismail Haniyeh claims to have been Prime Minister of Gaza since 2006; Fatah disputes this, having appointed Salam Fayyad in 2007. Born in a refugee camp in Gaza, he joined a party that would later help form Hamas and was arrested by Israel during the Palestinian intifada in the late 1980s. After his release, he became a key assistant to Hamas' founder, Ahmed Yassin, which helped him become known in the party.

After Yassin's assassination in 2004, Haniyeh rose to be a top leader in Hamas, and he was respected for his negotiating skills. Combined with his location in the Gaza Strip, this led to his appointment as the PLO's Prime Minister after Hamas' success at the polls in 2006. His appointment caused the US, Israel, the EU and others to levy sanctions against the PLO because the West considers Hamas to be a terrorist group.

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