Hamas Cabinet endorsed by Palestinian parliament

JERUSALEM – The Palestinian parliament on Tuesday endorsed a new Cabinet led by Hamas, a political triumph for the radical Islamic movement that must now confront as the governing party the myriad problems plaguing the Palestinian Authority.

The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, was approved by a vote of 71-36. Voting in favor of the Cabinet were legislators from Hamas and the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, along with a few independents. Two members of parliament abstained.

No lawmaker from Fatah, the secular-nationalist movement that Hamas ousted in the Jan. 25 parliamentary elections, supported the Cabinet filled out by Hamas officials and independents allied with the organization. Leading Hamas figures will run the powerful interior, foreign and finance ministries, as well as the influential portfolios of higher education and health.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, known commonly as Abu Mazen, had demanded that Hamas recognize Israel and endorse a two-state solution to the conflict before it assumed control of the 24 ministries. International donors have also demanded that Hamas accept those conditions or risk an end to the foreign aid that the Palestinian Authority relies on to function.

But Hamas leaders have rejected those requirements.