Hamas sparked the battle over the successor of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by declaring that Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Aziz Duwaik will succeed him in case of his absence, in accordance with the Basic Law of the Palestinian Authority.
![The head of Gaza's Hamas government Ismail Haniya in Gaza City after the Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate Mohamed Morsi was declared the winner of the Egyptian elections, on June 24, 2012. [Getty Images]](/sites/default/files/styles/d08_traditional/public/im/misc/146950276.jpg?itok=lfi0oN_Y "The head of Gaza's Hamas government Ismail Haniya in Gaza City after the Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate Mohamed Morsi was declared the winner of the Egyptian elections, on June 24, 2012. [Getty Images]")
