A new poll has showed that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement will beat out Islamic Hamas if parliamentary elections are held.
The survey, carried out by the Arabic World Center for Research and Development, found out that 47 percent of the people will vote for Fatah and 37 percent will elect Hamas.
Hamas achieved landslide victory in parliamentary elections in January 2006. It formed a government a few months later amid power struggle with the long-dominant Fatah.
In June 2007, Hamas routed out Fatah and took over Gaza Strip by force. As a result, Abbas fired Hamas-led government and formed another western-backed administration ruling from West Bank.
But large numbers of the Palestinians support an end to Hamas-Fatah feud. The poll shows that 70 percent of the people agree that the struggle ends with Hamas giving up its forcible control on Gaza Strip.
Israel tightened its closure on Gaza Strip and increased military attacks on the Hamas-ruled territory since June last year. Hamas accepted an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire with Israel and will
Finally decide its stance next week after meeting the Egyptian mediators who talked with Israel.
Forty-three percent of the surveyed people accept that Hamas holds talks with Israel while 63 percent says Hamas should not recognize Israel. Up to 69 percent Palestinians said they support Hamas' offer of a ten-year ceasefire with Israel.
(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2008)
