AP Photo

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip, recently held internal elections. The polls were for the Gaza Political Bureau and Shura Council, often described as the movement's parliament. Hamas holds its votes in secret, and tries to prevent the outside world from gaining knowledge of the movement's internal political processes. However, it has become clear that the elections represented a significant victory for Hamas's Gaza leadership. This came at the expense of the formerly Damascus-based external leadership group of Khaled Meshaal, which is now scattered across the region.