GAZA, Mar 15 (Sputnik) A woman has for the first time been elected to the Hamas political bureau, the organization said in a statement.
According to the Sunday release, the Hamas election process has ended in Gaza with a woman making it to the organization’s highest decision-making body for the first time.
The Times of Israel reported on Sunday that the woman, Jamila al-Shanti, is the widow of assassinated Hamas leader Abd al-Aziz al-Rantisi, who was killed by Israel during the Second Intifada.
Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni militant organization in control of the Gaza Strip, has been locked in a protracted on-and-off conflict with Israel. Internal elections are now being held by Hamas with the vote conducted in secret in Gaza, the West Bank and abroad, as well as in Israeli prisons.