A different election from before
In early April 2012, Hamas held elections for its party structure from top to bottom. The elections started in Gaza, where — unlike in the other three areas: the West Bank, the Israeli jails and abroad — Hamas can freely move and communicate. Hamas’s leadership comes from these four areas. The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the security measures against Hamas activists in jail hampered the elections in those areas. The elections abroad were delayed because, after Hamas left Damascus, the movement’s leaders became dispersed between Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf.