The Palestinian leadership on Sunday welcomed the winning of the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohammed Morsi in the Egyptian presidential election.

"As Palestinians, we welcome the democratic Egyptian choice and we appreciate it," said Saeb Erekat, a member of the Executive Committee of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

He added that the winning of the Muslim Brotherhood will not change Egypt's position regarding the Palestinian cause.

In Gaza, Hamas, the Islamic movement that holds sway there, said that Morsi's victory will support Hamas' resistance against the Israeli occupation.

As soon as the results of the Egyptian presidential run-off were announced, hundreds of Hamas members took to the streets, distributing sweets and firing in the air to celebrate the winning of Morsi.

"The loser in this battle is Israel and its agents in the region," said Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas official.

Both Hamas and Fatah, a party led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, agreed that the winning of Morsi should not affect their efforts to reconcile.

Egypt has been the official sponsor of the Palestinian reconciliation dialogue, and some fear that the rise of the Islamic parties in the region will harden Hamas' stance toward reconciliation.

Hamas, a historical offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood founded in the 1980s, took over Gaza in 2007.

Hamas hopes that the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt will help it "overcome the remaining sanctions and the closure that Israel and former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak imposed on Gaza."