The Palestinian militant group Hamas will move one step closer to office yesterday when prime minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh presents his cabinet and government agenda to parliament for approval.

The parliament session comes on the eve of elections in Israel, where the main issue is a plan by interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to withdraw from remote Jewish settlements in the West Bank while strengthening bigger enclaves if peacemaking with the Palestinians remains frozen.

Ahead of the parliamentary session, the Israeli army killed an Islamic Jihad gunman who was firing rocket-propelled grenades into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. Israel also carried out an unsuccessful air strike on a militant's car.

Hamas, which swept Palestinian elections in January, is formally committed to Israel’s destruction and has given no sign it will alter its policy or disarm. Olmert's centrist Kadima party is predicted by polls to win most seats in Israel's vote.

Palestinian lawmakers are expected to hold a vote of confidence on the Hamas cabinet and government programmedtoday or tomorrow after debating both. Approval should be a certainty because Hamas holds the majority of seats.

Haniyeh has said the cabinet will be sworn in by Wednesday.

Yesterday’s parliament session started in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Haniyeh is due to deliver a speech by video-link from the Gaza Strip. Citing security concerns, Israel prohibits Hamas officials in Gaza from traveling to the West Bank.

During yesterday's session, Haniyeh read Hamas’s 15-page cabinet program, Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri said.

Hamas’s broad governing agenda calls for using any means to end Israeli occupation. It also seeks to eradicate corruption and create jobs.

“Most likely today lawmakers will vote on the cabinet following the debate on the program,” Masri said. “We are confident this cabinet will win confidence and will begin its work.”

Hamas has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings against Israelis since 2000, but it has largely respected a ceasefire for the past year. Violence involving other factions has continued sporadically.