On 25 January 2006,
Hamas won the
elections for the
Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). On 29 March 2006, the
First Haniyeh-led PA government was sworn in.
Israel, the
United States, the
European Union and several other countries
impose sanctions against the PA, including suspension of all
international aid. On 17 June 2006, a
temporary international mechanism was created to channel aid to Palestinians bypassing the Hamas-led PA government, including paying aid funds directly to the accounts of President Abbas. On 8 February 2007, negotiations resulted in the
Fatah–Hamas Mecca Agreement to form a Palestinian national unity government. The agreement was signed by Abbas on behalf of Fatah and by
Khaled Mashal on behalf of Hamas. The agreement also contained a "letter of commission" from Abbas to Haniyeh, calling on Haniyeh as premier of the next government to achieve Palestinian national goals as approved by the
Palestine National Council, the Basic Law and the National Reconciliation Document (the
Prisoners' Document) as well as the decisions of the Arab summit. which was approved 83–3. At the time, 41 of the 132 members of the PLC were in Israeli detention. The program of the national unity government included ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and recognizing the right to
self-determination of the Palestinian people, and the establishment of the independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty within the
1967 borders, with
al-Quds as its capital, On 14 June 2007, President Abbas declared a
state of emergency by presidential decree, and dismissed the Haniyeh-led unity government. He appointed an
emergency government led by
Salam Fayyad and controversially suspended articles of the Basic Law to dispense with the need for PLC approval of the new government. The Fayyad government was swiftly recognized by the international community. Haniyeh and Hamas have refused to accept the dismissal, and continues to claim it is the legitimate caretaker government of the Palestinian Authority on the basis that the PLC, which continues to be controlled by Hamas, has not approved the new government. ==Members of the Government==