[danaris]

> They might have defacto control, but most countries don't recognize Hamas as the "legitimate government".

They might be murderous terrorists, but they were, in fact, elected in as free an election as Gaza was likely to get.

They're as much a legitimate government there as the current US administration is here.

[CrazyStat]

The current US administration was elected less than one year ago. Hamas was elected 19 years ago. By law they should have held another election in 2009, but they refused to hold that election and have refused to hold any other elections since. This would seem to raise some doubts as to their status as a legitimate elected government.