Hamas Presses Fatah in Palestinian Vote
Hamas, the militant Islamic party sworn to the destruction of Israel, won a large share of votes in the first Palestinian legislative elections in a decade, depriving the more secular Fatah party of its longstanding monopoly on power, surveys of voters leaving the polls indicated Wednesday. While those surveys showed Fatah with a narrow lead, the vote marked the first entry of Hamas into representative Palestinian politics, a fundamental change, and its strong showing raised questions about the near-term future of any peace talks with Israel.
