Earlier this week, she was elected mayor by a majority of 15 new city council members, including three from Hamas. Mikhail is the first woman to run a West Bank town. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ ruling Fatah Party was relegated to the opposition in Ramallah, a liberal town of 23,000 and the Palestinians’ administrative and commercial centre. The new coalition in Ramallah could be another sign that Hamas, which carried out scores of deadly attacks against Israel since its founding in 1987, is gradually transforming itself into a political party.