Hamas suffers election blow in north Gaza

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A Palestinian court annulled some municipal election results in north Gaza on Thursday in a blow to Hamas that could aggravate friction between the Islamic militants and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.

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The court decision, which invalidates Hamas's victory in five of 42 balloting stations in Beit Lahia due to complaints of irregularities, echoed a court ruling on Tuesday throwing out returns in parts of the southern town of Rafah, where Hamas trounced Fatah in the May 5 elections.

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"This could change the initial declared results," Abu Safiyah of the Supreme Committee for Local Election in Gaza told Reuters, adding that the ruling meant 2,817 eligible voters would have to recast ballots within 10 days.^

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Fatah officials praised the ruling and awaited a third decision in a central Gaza precinct where initial results also showed a Hamas sweep but drew Fatah complaints alleging ballot forgery by its Islamist rival.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/578224.html

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1. This is having a bad side-effect, as Hamas is firing on

Israelis with rockets and mortars.

Analysts believe this is actually a side effect of an internal struggle between Hamas and the P.A.

It would be tragic if, once again, violence overcame the peace process.

For their part, the Israelis don't want to be withdrawing under fire, and state they wish to respond "with restraint" so as not to escalate the violence.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/577319.html

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As Sharon weighed resumption of IDF incursions into the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire, defense sources maintained that Israel would respond "with restraint" to the shelling, and would try to avoid escalation.

On Wednesday, one Israeli was lightly wounded by mortar shells and anti-tank rockets launched by Hamas. A Hamas man was killed by an accidental explosion of a bomb he was preparing, and another activist in the organization was seriously wounded in an Israel Air Force missile strike and later died in a Gaza hospital.

Israel believes Hamas opened fire as part of its struggle against the PA leadership, and to protest a court decision in Rafah to cancel the results of the recent municipal vote in three precincts there.

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