GAZA, March 27 (UPI) -- The Palestinian parliament held a confidence vote session Monday for Islamist militant group Hamas, whose leaders presented the new government agenda.
The 132-member parliament convened in Ramallah and Gaza City through video link to listen to the policy statement of prime minister designate Ismail Haniyeh's government.
Haniyeh's speech, a copy of which was obtained by United Press International, implied in a veiled way that the Hamas government would respect agreements signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel.
"The government will deal with the agreements signed by the PLO and the Palestinian Authority with great national responsibility in a way to serve the interests and firm rights of our people," it said. "The government will take into consideration the interests and demands of our people as well as the mechanism for daily life which are linked to the occupation in the various economic, health and commercial fields."
Haniyeh also vowed to combat corruption and resist occupation.
Palestinian sources expected that no vote of confidence would take place Monday, but Hamas, which commands the majority in parliament, appeared confident that winning the vote is only a matter of time.
Meanwhile, Israeli planes attacked a group of Islamic Jihad militants trying to fire locally-made rockets at Israel from north Gaza Strip Monday, killing one and injuring three.
The retalition against the Palestinian militants occurred just a few hours before a similar raid targeted the car of a leader of Fatah's military wing, al-Aqsa Brigades, north of Gaza City.
