The Independent, UK, 26 January 2006:

The Islamic militant group Hamas captured a large majority of seats in Palestinian legislative elections, officials in Hamas and the ruling Fatah Party said today - a devastating upset that is sure to throw Middle East peacemaking into turmoil.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and his Cabinet ministers submitted their resignations to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas today. "This is the choice of the people. It should be respected," Qureia said. "If it's true (the results), then the president should ask Hamas to form a new government. For me, personally, I sent my resignation."

Under the law, Abbas must ask the largest party in the new parliament - presumably Hamas - to form the next government. Abbas was elected separately a year ago and remains president.

Hamas said before the election it does not want to govern alone, and would prefer to bring Fatah into a coalition. Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said today that the group will declare its intentions after official results are announced.

Israel and the United States have said they would not deal with a Hamas-led Palestinian government. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has said he would step down if he could no longer pursue his peace agenda with Israel.

Palestinian election officials confirmed that Hamas had won a large majority of the seats up for grabs in electoral districts in the West Bank and Gaza. Half the seats in Wednesday's parliament vote were chosen on a national list and the other half by districts.

The Central Election Commission said the vote count had not been completed and that it would make an official announcement at 7pm (1700 gmt) today.

Initial exit polls on Wednesday night had forecast a slight edge for Fatah, with Hamas coming in a strong second. The polls predicted that neither Hamas nor Fatah would have enough seats to form a government alone, and would have to rely on smaller parties to form a coalition.

However, on Thursday morning, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said his group had won about 70 seats in the 132-member parliament. Later in the day, another Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the number had risen to at least 75.

Officials in Fatah conceded that Hamas had won about 70 seats. They spoke on condition of anonymity because counting in some districts was continuing.

The discrepancy between the exit polls and Thursday's information was apparently due to voting in districts, where Hamas was apparently able to capitalize on divisions within Fatah.

A senior Fatah member, Saeb Erekat, said he could not confirm the partial results, but blamed Israel's refusal to resume peace talks with a Fatah-led government for the party's poor showing.

"Israel has declared us non-partners about four years ago and they were not speaking to our elected president," he told Israel Army Radio. "Everybody was blaming Fatah for every mistake in the world. Everybody was tying our hands and our legs and throwing us into the sea. And now I think all these things, including our mistakes in Fatah, led to this result."

Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday, before Hamas claimed victory, that Israel cannot trust a Palestinian leadership in which the Islamic group has a role, according to a statement by his office.

"Israel can't accept a situation in which Hamas, in its present form as a terror group calling for the destruction of Israel, will be part of the Palestinian Authority without disarming," Olmert told US Senator Joseph Biden in a meeting, according to Olmert's office. "I won't hold negotiations with a government that does not stick to its most basic obligation of fighting terror."

Israel is willing to help the Palestinians and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas "a great deal" but only if they crack down on militants, Olmert said.

Israel has repeatedly asked Abbas to force Hamas and other militant groups to disarm but Abbas has refused, warning such an act could cause civil war. Hamas has committed dozens of suicide bombings against Israel.

US President George W. Bush told The Wall Street Journal in an interview Wednesday that the United States will not deal with Hamas until it renounces its position calling for the destruction of Israel.

The election Wednesday was the Palestinians' first truly competitive vote, with Hamas contesting a parliamentary vote for the first time and winning considerable clout.

Before the vote Fatah had promised voters to clean up corruption and try to relaunch peace-making with Israel. Following the exit polls showing them winning, Fatah loyalists fired rifles out of car windows, sounded their horns and waved the yellow flag of their movement as they drove around the streets after getting word of the exit polls.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flooded polling stations throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip for a vote that would determine how Palestinians wanted to be governed and whether they would pursue negotiations or confrontation with Israel.

Long lines formed at polling stations, and 77.7 percent of 1.3 million eligible voters cast ballots. Under a compromise with Israel, some Arabs in east Jerusalem were allowed to cast absentee ballots at post offices in the disputed city, and voting was extended there by two hours because postal workers were slow.

Routine power cuts in the Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis forced election workers to count ballots by candlelight.

"Whoever is the winner, it's a great victory for the Palestinians in general because partnership starts from this minute," said Samer Lulu, 29, a merchant who voted in Gaza City.

Hamas' success has alarmed Israel and the West, but Abbas has argued that luring the group into politics would tame it and increase the chances for peace.

The election will usher in a new parliament and Cabinet, but Abbas, who was elected president last year, will remain head of the Palestinian Authority regardless of the results.

"We are coming into a new phase. In this phase, we are calling for the international community to help us return to the negotiating table with the Israelis, conclude the peace process and implement it," Abbas said after the voting ended.

Palestinians were given the day off to vote, and the election was held in a celebratory atmosphere that was rare in the recent years of fighting with Israel. Some activists covered their cars with red carnations, as if for a wedding, and others blasted campaign songs from car stereos and storefront speakers.

Campaign posters hung on nearly every wall, dangled from electric lines over the street and were plastered to the hoods of cars. Some children ran through the streets wearing the green flag of Hamas as a cape. Others wore the black-and-white checkered scarf of Fatah.

Some 13,500 police officers guarded the 1,008 polling stations to prevent gunmen from disrupting the vote, and there were no reports of major violence. In the West Bank's Balata refugee camp, militants who had threatened to burn down polling stations checked their assault rifles at the door with a flourish and peacefully voted.

Hoping to harness a wave of discontent with Fatah, Hamas ran an anti-corruption campaign, calling its party Reform and Change.

"We've reached the worst. The most important thing now is change," said Raed Abu Hamam, 35, a construction worker in Gaza's Beach camp who said he has lost faith in Fatah. Fatah appealed for another chance to clean up the government and expand an economy shattered by nearly five years of fighting with Israel. Many Fatah voters said they were grudgingly supporting the party out of old loyalties.

"The Palestinian Authority did nothing for us. People here have no jobs, while people in the PA got millions of dollars," said Ali Taha, 35, a laborer in the Amari refugee camp in Ramallah, who voted for Fatah anyway.

Though the election appeared likely to turn on internal issues, the results will have deep implications for future peace efforts with Israel.

Abbas said Wednesday he is prepared to resume peace talks, even if Hamas joins his government. Hamas is expected to ask for service ministries - health, education and welfare - and to leave diplomacy to others.

"We are ready to negotiate," Abbas said. "We are partners with the Israelis. They don't have the right to choose their partner."