First Haniyeh Government

The Palestinian Authority Government of March 2006, also known as the First Haniyeh Government, was a government of the Palestinian National Authority (PA), led by Ismail Haniyeh, that was sworn in on 29 March 2006 and was followed by the Palestinian unity government of 17 March 2007. On 25 January 2006, Hamas won the election for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) with 44.4% of the vote vs Fatah's 41.4%, and its leader Haniyeh formed the government, which comprised mostly Hamas members as well as four independents, after Fatah and other factions had refused to form a government with Hamas. It was the first Hamas-led PA government in the Palestinian territories.^[1][2][3][4]

First Haniyeh Government
12th Cabinet of Palestinian Authority
Date formed	29 March 2006
Date dissolved	17 March 2007
People and organisations
Head of state	Mahmoud Abbas
Head of government	Ismail Haniyeh
Deputy head of government	Nasser al-Shaer
No. of ministers	25
Total no. of members	25
Member party	Hamas
Status in legislature	Majority government
Opposition party	Fatah
Opposition leader	Mahmoud Abbas
History
Election	2006 Palestinian legislative election
Predecessor	Third Qurei Government
Successor	Palestinian Unity Government (2007)

Due to the inability of Hamas and Fatah to form a single government, conflict and fighting between Fatah and Hamas followed the election, resulting in Hamas completely taking over governance in Gaza in June 2007 after the Fatah–Hamas conflict. This leads to confusion about who is the legitimate "Palestinian Authority." Fatah gained control of the West Bank in 2007, and is generally referred to as the PA or "Palestinian Authority" while Hamas is more often called the "Palestinian Authority Government."

Hamas has sworn to destroy Israel and is considered by the main donor countries to the PA to be a terrorist organization. The Quartet on the Middle East — comprising the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia — had said that its members would not deal with the Hamas government unless Hamas recognized Israel's right to exist, forswears violence and accepts the validity of previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements, including the Oslo Accords.^[5] Hamas rejected these conditions and a substantial part of the international community, especially Israel and the United States, refused to deal with the Hamas government, suspended aid to the Hamas-dominated PA government and imposed sanctions. On the swearing in of the Hamas government, Israel also withheld taxes collected on behalf of the PA,^[6] which would last for 12 months. In an attempt to deflect Israeli and international argument that the government was dominated by a terrorist organisation, in April 2006 Hamas ministers resigned membership in Hamas.^[7] To forestall a worsening humanitarian crisis and the collapse of the PA, the EU proposed the setting up of a "temporary international mechanism" (TIM) to channel international funds to the Palestinians through the Palestinian president, bypassing the Hamas-led government.^[8] TIM was accepted by the Quartet and the United States on 17 June 2006.^[9]

Following the abduction of Gilad Shalit on 25 June 2006 by Gaza-based Palestinian militants, Israel detained nearly a third of the PLC members and ministers, all officials or supporters of Hamas.^[10][11][12]

Background

Pursuant to the Oslo Accords, the authority of the PA Government is limited to some civil rights of the Palestinians in the West Bank Areas A and B and in the Gaza Strip, and to internal security in Area A and in Gaza.

Formation

The Palestinian legislative election, held on 25 January 2006, was won by Hamas. On 26 January 2006, Fatah leader Saeb Erakat said his party did not want to join a Hamas Government. The Fatah Central Committee decided that Fatah will not join the next Government, but said it would depend on President Abbas. On 28 January 2006, Hamas declared it would try to form a Government of technocrats, if a government with Fatah and all the political groups was not possible. On 29 January 2006, PLC deputies from Fatah confirmed after talks with Abbas that their faction would not join Hamas in a coalition Government and would prefer to sit in opposition, despite calls by Hamas for a “political partnership”. The decision was, however, not discussed and ratified by the Fatah Central Committee.^[2]

On 27 March 2006, Ismail Haniyeh announced formation of the new government, comprising Hamas members and four independents, to the Palestinian Legislative Council.^[13] On 28 March, the government was approved by the PLC and sworn in on 29 March 2006.^[14]

International reaction

Main article: 2006–2007 economic sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority

After the Hamas victory at the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Israel said that if Hamas was part of the new PA government, it would restrict the movement of money, people and goods into and out of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.^[15] The Quartet on the Middle East had said that its members would not deal with the Hamas government unless Hamas recognized Israel's right to exist, forswears violence and accepts the validity of previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements.^[5] Hamas rejected these conditions and a substantial part of the international community, especially Israel and the United States, refused to deal with the Hamas government, and imposed sanctions.

Following the swearing in of a Hamas-led government on 29 March 2006, Israel,^[16] the United States^[14] and the Quartet imposed sanctions against the PA.^[17] On the swearing in of the Hamas government, Israel also withheld taxes collected on behalf of the PA,^[6] which would last for 12 months.

Timeline

Due to the Israeli blockade, Ministers from West Bank and Gaza were compelled to communicate by videophone. One of the first acts of the Hamas cabinet was to freeze a round of appointments by the outgoing Fatah-led government.^[6]

A struggle for power between President Abbas and the new government emerged over the security services. Abbas made Fatah-affiliated Rashid Abu Shbak head of the three branches of the Palestinian Security Services, with authority to hire and fire officers in the three security branches, bypassing the authority of the Hamas Interior Minister. He also ordered all diplomatic statements and dealings be coordinated with the Fatah-dominated Palestine Liberation Organization,^[6] after Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar had sent a letter to the UN Secretary General.^[7]

In April 2006, it was announced that the Hamas Ministers in the cabinet had resigned their membership in Hamas, in an effort to reduce Israeli and international pressure, facing the economic siege.^[7] The government was followed by a unity government of March 2007.

Members of the Government

March 2006 to March 2007 ^[18][13]

	Minister	Office	Party
1	Ismail Haniyeh	Prime Minister	Hamas
		Sports and Youth Minister
2	Nasser al-Shaer	Deputy Prime Minister	Hamas
		Education Minister
3	Mahmoud al-Zahar	Foreign Affairs Minister	Hamas
4	Omar Abd al-Razaq	Finance Minister	Hamas
5	Said Seyam	Interior Minister	Hamas
6	Basem Naim	Health	Hamas
7	Alaeddin al-A'raj	Economy	Hamas
8	Fakhri Turkman	Social Affairs	Independent
9	Wasfi Kabha	Prisoners Affairs	Hamas
10	Yousef Rizqa	Information	Hamas
11	Mariam Saleh	Woman Affairs	Hamas
12	Ahmed Khalidi	Justice	Independent
13	Jamal al Khudari	Telecommunications and Information Technology	Independent
14	Abdul Rahman Zeidan	Public Works	Hamas
15	Joudeh George Murqos	Tourism	Independent **
16	Attallah Abul Sabeh	Culture	Hamas
17	Ziad Al-Zaza	Transportation	Hamas
18	Nayef Rajoub	Religious Affairs	Hamas
19	Samir Abu Eisheh	Planning	Hamas
20	Mohammed al Agha	Agriculture	Hamas
21	Khaled Abu Arafeh	Minister without Portfolio	Hamas
22	Issa Ja'bari	Local Governance Ministry	Hamas
23	Atef Udwan	Refugees	Hamas
24	Mohammad Barghouti	Labor	Hamas
25	Mohammed Awad	Chief of Cabinet (Rank of Minister)	Hamas
Notes: * Some ministers were arrested by Israel, making their duties being transferred to other ministers. ** Joudeh George Murqos was the only Christian minister in the government.

See also

• Palestinian government
• Palestinian Prisoners' Document

References

1. Palestinian PM to quit after poll. BBC, 26 January 2006
2. Chronological Review of Events Relating to the Question of Palestine Monthly media monitoring review, January 2006. UN, Division for Palestinian Rights, 8 February 2006.
   Day 26:"Saeb Erakat, who won re-election to the PLC in his home town of Jericho, beating back a challenge from a Hamas candidate, said his party did not want to join a Hamas Government. ... “The Fatah Central Committee has decided that Fatah will not join the next Government,” Intissar Wazir, a member of the Committee, said after the group met to discuss the outcome of the PLC elections. Officials said the ultimate decision on whether Fatah could join a new Government would still depend on PA President Abbas." Day 29: "After talks with PA President Abbas, PLC deputies from Fatah confirmed that their faction would not join Hamas in a coalition Government and would prefer to sit in opposition, despite calls by Hamas for a “political partnership”."
3. TIMELINE: Key events since 2006. Reuters, 20 June 2007
4. The Impact of Semi-Presidentialism on Governance in the Palestinian Authority (pdf). Francesco Cavatorta and Robert Elgie. Parliam Affairs (2009). (Also in HTML version)
   p. 9: Hamas offered Fatah a grand coalition, but Fatah refused"
5. U.S. and Israelis Are Said to Talk of Hamas Ouster Steven Erlanger, New York Times, 14 February 2006
6. Palestinians' Hamas Leader Faces Myriad of Problems. The New York Times, 6 April 2006.
   "Israel refuses to allow Hamas officials to pass between the West Bank and Gaza, in addition to other steps aimed at increasing its isolation."
7. Hamas Ministers Resign Membership in Movement to Appease U.S., Israel. Arnon Regular, Haaretz, 7 April 2006
8. US "Blocks" Palestinian Aid Plan Archived January 15, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, BBC News; Powers agree Palestinian Aid Plan Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, BBC News; Palestinians to Get Interim Aid Archived August 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, BBC News
9. Quartet Statement, 17 June 2006.
10. Palestinian Legislative Council Members Archived 2013-04-12 at the Wayback Machine. Addameer, 2013
11. Palestinian MK demands release of PLC members; reinstatement of Jerusalem ID Archived 12 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Ma'an News Agency, 12 September 2008
12. 25% of Palestinian MPs detained by Israel. Conal Urquhart, Guardian, 21 August 2006
13. The ministerial statement of the new government as read by PM elect Ismail Hanieh in front of the PLC. JMCC, 27 March 2006
14. US cuts diplomatic ties with Hamas government. Guardian, 29 March 2006
15. Hamas Leader Faults Israeli Sanction Plan. Steven Erlanger, New York Times, 18 February 2006
16. Israel’s retaliatory seizure of tax, pp. 10-11. Al-Haq, 1 April 2015. Here available Archived 5 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine
17. Funds Cut, Gaza Faces a Plague of Health Woes. New York Times, 8 May 2006
18. The PA Ministerial Cabinet List March 2006 - March 2007. JMCC. Archived on 4 October 2009