Seven of the ten ministers were newly appointed to the new government.[3] The priorities of the new government has been said to be "ending the siege [of the Gaza Strip] and easing the problems of citizens, especially with regard to electricity and water."[2] Neither the Palestinian Authority nor any foreign country recognised the Hamas governments as legitimate, and do not have any relations with Hamas; the United States, Canada, the European Union, Japan and Israel have designated Hamas a terrorist organization.
The Hamas governments in the Gaza Strip claim to be successors of the Palestinian unity government 2007, which had been dismissed by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in June 2007. Haniyeh had continued to claim the PA Fatah government of 2007 in West Bank and its successors were illegitimate.
In September 2012, following the announcement of the new government, the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported that for the first time since the split with the Palestinian Authority in 2007, Hamas was seeking to appoint its own diplomats.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ghazi Hamad, however, strongly denied that these forthcoming diplomatic appointments was an indication that the Gaza government was seeking to entrench the division between West Bank and Gaza Strip.[5]
