Unedited text of report by the independent, non-governmental Palestinian Ma'an News Agency entitled "Hamas launches 'official' Gaza newspaper", published on 5 March and republished by the BBC Monitoring Group.

The Hamas-run de facto government in Gaza released a new official newspaper called Al-Ra'i (The Opinion) on Thursday 5 March. The 12-page newspaper (four in colour, eight black and white) is now being produced once a week, but its publishers intend for it to be a daily. The first edition, distributed for free in Gaza, contains an exclusive interview with de facto Prime Minister Isma'il Haniyah and an article about Sa'id Siyam, the interior minister who was assassinated by Israel in January. The newspaper's administration says they have "several" correspondents gathering news and information in Gaza and the West Bank, in addition to editors and other employees. The director of the de facto government media office, Hasan Abu-Hashish, said that all government agencies and ministries will cooperate and support the new paper.

Source: Ma'an News Agency website, Bethlehem and the BBC Monitoring Group.