Hamas rallies across West Bank and Gaza

In the year since Islamic Hamas swept parliamentary elections, Palestinians have sunk deeper into poverty, their government has been ostracized by the international community and hundreds have died in violence.

Yet the militant movement remains popular and its chief rival, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is reluctant to force a showdown, either by disbanding the government or setting a date for early elections.

Hamas marked marked the one-year anniversary of its upset victory in Palestinian elections on Friday with celebrations that were dramatically scaled back after a new outbreak of deadly factional violence, including a deadly attack on a group of Hamas militiamen on Thursday night and retaliation that spilled over into Friday.

Tensions were so high that Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas bowed out of a planned appearance at a rally in Jebaliya, apparently fearing it would be too dangerous to travel there. In the end, only several thousand Hamas supporters gathered in Jebaliya to celebrate Hamas' ascent to power.

In a speech Thursday, a defiant Haniyeh said his government did not surrender to international pressure: "We remained loyal to the resistance because we are a government born of resistance."

Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian analyst and former Cabinet minister, said Hamas' popularity is not linked to the government's performance.

Israel's occupation of the West Bank and the expansion of Jewish settlements will "contribute to the radicalization of the Palestinian society and will continue to allow Hamas to enjoy the confidence of the Palestinian people," Khatib said.

Hamas' Jan. 25, 2006 election victory came in its first race for the Palestinian parliament. It won 74 of the legislature's 132 seats and ousted Abbas' Fatah Party, which had ruled exclusively since the Palestinian Authority was formed in 1996.

Israel and the West promptly cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to the Palestinian government to pressure Hamas to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.

But Hamas has refused to bend, helped by contributions from some Arab and Muslim states.

Abbas, who wants to restart peace talks with Israel, has been trying for months to form a more moderate Fatah-Hamas coalition government, hoping that would persuade the West to lift sanctions.

Although the boycott has deepened Palestinian poverty, the two sides have not been able to reach agreement. In May, the tensions erupted into open fighting that has killed 65 people.

In the latest violence, Hamas militants wounded a Fatah fighter during a rocket attack on his house in the northern Gaza Strip, Fatah officials said.

As neighbors were taking the injured man to hospital, the Hamas raiders stopped the car and killed him with a shot to the head, Fatah said.

The killing capped a night of factional clashes in which a Hamas militiaman died in a bomb attack and each side took captives.

A spokesman for Fatah said the party was suspending coalition talks with Hamas movement to protest the flare-up.

"Fatah will not go to dialogue with killers," said Maher Mekdad, Fatah's spokesman in the Gaza Strip.

However, Ibrahim Abu Naja, who heads Fatah's delegation to the talks, said he had not been informed of any decision to suspend the negotiations and expected them to resume Sunday.

The infighting has aggravated hardship caused to ordinary Palestinians by Israel's recently ended campaign against Hamas and allies who captured an Israeli soldier and fired rockets almost daily at southern Israel.

A frustrated Abbas has threatened to call early elections, but has stopped short of setting a date. Even if a vote was held in coming months, Hamas might not necessarily be ousted.

The Palestinian public is not eager to reinstate Fatah, having voted it out of power last year because of the corruption and patronage during its 40-year domination of Palestinian politics. Also, many Palestinians blame their problems on the Western and Israeli sanctions instead of Hamas.

"The Palestinians have restored their dignity over the past year," said Shadwa Olwan, a 29-year-old secretary in Gaza and Hamas sympathizer. "This government has put an end to 'money in return for compromise.'"

Morad Taha, a 23-year-old unemployed laborer from a village near the West Bank town of Ramallah, said he voted for Fatah last year but would not vote for either if new elections were called.

"Neither Fatah nor Hamas did anything to help the Palestinian people," Taha said. "They are just fighting for power, and don't care for their people."