Mr. Ambassador, first we hear this implicit recognition of Israel and then a Hamas official denying that that's what this agreement means.

NPR: Palestinian Policy on Israel at a Crossroads

In 2010 it rebuked Israel after faked Australian passports were used in the assassination of a senior Hamas official in Dubai that year.

BBC: Australia says Prisoner X worked for Israeli government

Mr Haniya's visit to Cairo was the second by a senior Hamas official since Mr Mursi took office at the end of June.

BBC: Egypt's president discusses Gaza blockade with Hamas PM

Mr Jabari, who was 46, is the most senior Hamas official to be killed in the Gaza Strip since the major Israeli offensive four years ago.

BBC: Israeli air strike kills Hamas military chief Jabari

Amr Moussa, the 22-state Arab League's secretary-general, paid a rare visit to Gaza earlier this month but met Hamas officials as members of a faction, not as Gaza's official authority, and asked Hamas's security guards not to escort him.

ECONOMIST: As pressure mounts on Israel to lift the siege, Hamas gains

But, in an official statement, Hamas urged Mr Meshaal - who lives in exile in Syria - to reconsider his decision.

BBC: Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal 'to step down'

By the end of the official truce on December 19th, Hamas's harder-liners again held sway.

ECONOMIST: Gaza and Hamas

An official Israel Defense Forces blog criticised Hamas for that decision.

BBC: Israel bars Gaza runners from first West Bank marathon

Egyptian diplomats, meanwhile, have sought to rally official Arab support for their view that Hamas's rule in Gaza is illegitimate, even while they have been sponsoring talks to heal the rift between Fatah and its Islamist rivals.

ECONOMIST: Egypt and Gaza

But an optimistic view is that Hamas, on joining it, will be forced to toe the PA's official line of holding more negotiations with Israel.

ECONOMIST: Palestinians at the polls | The