Hamas Sweeps Gaza Elections in Show of Strength
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Hamas swept seven out of 10 councils in first-ever Gaza Strip local elections seen as a test of strength between the Islamic militant group and new President Mahmoud Abbas, final results showed on Friday.
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The radical Palestinian group Hamas, which the United States considers a terrorist organization, won an overwhelming victory in Thursday's local elections in the Gaza Strip, capturing almost two-thirds of all the seats being contested.
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GAZA CITY -- Hamas gunmen attacked bases of Fatah-allied troops with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades early yesterday , part of a four-day campaign by the Islamic militants to weaken the security forces loyal to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.
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Hamas Islamist fighters gained ground on Wednesday against forces loyal to Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas in battles for control of the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian supremacy struggle he termed "madness".
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Reports from the West Bank say the mainstream Fatah faction is on course to win municipal elections there despite a good showing by the militant Islamic group Hamas.
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Hamas Islamists seemed in command of much of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after battering forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
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GAZA CITY - For years, the seaside Flower of the Cities resort was that rare place in the Gaza Strip where the dress code did not rule out bikinis. Now, with some of its cinder-block cabanas turned into prayer rooms, the beach club shows how Hamas is consolidating its hold here three months after seizing power.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank  - Hamas militants defeated  the mainstream Palestinian movement Fatah in nine of 26 local  elections, results showed Sunday, in a foretaste of challenges  confronting emerging moderate leader Mahmoud Abbas.
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HAMAS has won significant victories in local elections in the West Bank, the first to have been contested by the Islamic militant movement that is sworn to see Israelâs destruction.
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Palestinians in the Gaza Strip voted in  their first-ever municipal elections on Thursday in a test of  support for President Mahmoud Abbas and rival Islamist groups  ahead of Israel's withdrawal from the occupied territory.
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Israeli forces seized control of parts of  the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, a day after soldiers  killed 14 Hamas fighters in the deadliest strike against the  leading Palestinian militant group.
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A Hamas military victory in Gaza would create a two-headed Palestine &#151; with the Islamic extremists in control in the coastal strip and Western-backed Fatah ruling the West Bank.
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The radical Islamic Hamas movementdid well in the first round of the Palestinian municipal elections,official results which was announced in Ramallah on Sunday showed.
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The Hamas party further consolidated its control of northern Gaza today in Palestinian factional battles.
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Israeli tanks and helicopters swept into  the northern Gaza Strip early on Wednesday, a day after  soldiers killed 14 Hamas militants in the biggest ever raid of  its kind.
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Hamas' seizure of the Gaza Strip could be a hollow victory. With Israel in control of Gaza's borders and the international community likely to shun it in favor of the Fatah-controlled West Bank, Hamas will have a hard time providing for the impoverished strip's 1.4 million inhabitants.
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Palestinians in the Gaza Strip voted in their first municipal elections under Israeli occupation on Thursday in a test of grassroots support for President Mahmoud Abbas and rival Islamist groups.