The Palestinian Authority Government of March 2006 was a government of the Palestinian National Authority from 29 March 2006 to 17 March 2007, led by Ismail Haniyeh. After Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election on 25 January 2006, its leader Haniyeh formed a cabinet which comprised mostly Hamas members as well as four independents, after Fatah and other factions refused to join a national unity government. It was the first Hamas-led PA government in the Palestinian territories. The Quartet on the Middle East demanded Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist, to forswear violence and to accept the validity of previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements. 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. In an attempt to reduce Israeli and international pressure, in April 2006 Hamas Ministers in the cabinet resigned their membership in Hamas. Following the abduction of Gilad Shalit on 25 June 2006, Israel detained nearly a third of the PLC members and ministers.
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. On 27 March 2006, Ismail Haniyeh announced his new government before the Palestinian Legislative Council. On 28 March, the government of mostly Hamas members and in addition four independents was approved by the PLC and sworn in on 29 March 2006.
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. 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, after Foreign MinisterMahmoud Zahar had sent a letter to the UN Secretary General. 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. The government was followed by a unity government of March 2007.
