An interesting wrinkle: Hamas actually lost seats in a town that has already experienced their rule. The honeymoon was over for those with direct experience of their rule. Joshua Mitnick reported in the Washington Times:

One of the few bright spots for Fatah in last week's Palestinian elections came in this sleepy border town where Hamas swept all 15 municipal council seats eight months ago, only to lose the area's two parliamentary seats in the face of voter disappointment.

This certainly suggests a strategy that cuttting funds to Hamas will weaken them; Israel also controls much of the electricity in the area—for which outstanding bills remain.

Ed Lasky   2 01 06