Israel ‘watches and waits’ as Hamas takes the reins of power in Palestine

THE Palestinian parliament is meeting today for the first time since Hamas’s landslide election win with the threat of tough Israeli economic restrictions hanging over the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Yesterday, a spokesman said that Israel was now in “watch and wait mode” to see what positions Hamas would take after the swearing-in of a parliament dominated by the Islamic militant group, whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to wait before ordering any new measures.