Hamas popularity surges as Palestinian rivalry flares

10 years ago | Posted in: Latest Politics News | 712 Views

RAMALLAH, West Bank: Militant group Hamas would sweep Palestinian elections if they were held today after its support soared during seven weeks of war with Israel in Gaza, an opinion poll published on Tuesday found.

The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research said the poll showed Islamists clearly leading presidential and parliamentary polls for the first time since Palestinans last voted eight years ago, when Hamas won power in Gaza.

Most Palestinians surveyed said they preferred Hamas’s strategy of armed struggle against Israel rather than peace negotiations, which are favoured by Fatah, once the dominant Palestinian political movement and one backed by the West.

The views, collected among over 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, show an unprecedented popular shift towards Hamas as tensions with Fatah boil.

Hamas’s former premier Ismail Haniyeh would win 61% of votes in a two-way race against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, with the Fatah chief taking just 32% of the vote, the survey found.

More than half (53%) of respondents said an armed approach would help gain a Palestinian state, as opposed to 20% who said they supported non-violent means… see more

source: times of india

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