Will the change in leadership alter Hamas' general approach?

Tabnak – Soon after releasing its new policy document which became very controversial in terms of the approach toward Israel, Palestinian movement Hamas named its new leader. This has caused a series of debates on what effects the selection of new leader would have on the general approach of the movement.

Khaled Meshaal, the head of Palestinian Hamas movement, announced yesterday that Ismail Haniya, the president of the political bureau of the movement, was elected as his successor.

"I would like to announce that this new council has elected Abu al-Abed, my brother Ismail Haniya, the president of the political bureau of the movement," Meshaal told Aljazeera news outlet.

"The new leadership will announce any other names in the appropriate time. The movement blesses this election which came in a consultative, democratic way that is homogenous with the lists and that shows the unity of the movement."

Haniyeh succeeds Hamas' longtime exiled leader, Khaled Mashaal, and the move comes shortly after the movement unveiled a new, more conciliatory political program in terms of its approach toward Israel.

In a report of the development, Voice of America claims that Hamas is trying to rebrand itself as an Islamic national liberation movement, rather than a branch of the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood, which has been outlawed by Egypt. It has also dropped explicit language calling for Israel's destruction, though it retains the goal of eventually "liberating" all of historic Palestine, which includes what is now occupied by Israel.

Hamas’ new policy document for the first time indicates the group is willing to accept the idea of a future Palestinian state falling within borders that existed in 1967 before Israel took control of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

All in all, the recent development shows that the balance of power within Hamas has been shifting to Gaza, the New York Times writes citing the experts. The group seized control of the Palestinian coastal enclave in 2007 after beating its main rival, Fatah, led by President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, in parliamentary elections a year earlier.

Ismail Haniya was born in the Shati refugee camp to the west of Gaza City and although a close associate of Hamas's spiritual leader, the late Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, he was relatively unknown until he headed the Hamas list that won the Palestinian legislative election of January 2006 and became prime minister.

Last year Avigdor Lieberman, a hard-line Israeli politician, issued a blunt ultimatum to Haniya. Lieberman said that if he were defense minister, Haniya would be dead within 48 hours if he did not return two Israeli men and the remains of two soldiers that Hamas is believed to be holding in Gaza.

However, Gaza-based political analyst Hani Habib says to Reuters that he did not foresee a big paradigm shift in internal Palestinian politics under the new leadership.

Haniyeh, he expects, will be "more flexible on different aspects, maybe foremost is the reconciliation, though I don't see a near end to divisions given the wide gap between the positions of Hamas and Fatah."