RAMALLAH, May 6: President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction survived a challenge by Hamas in Palestinian local elections but the militant group opposed to peace with Israel showed it is an increasingly potent political force. Unofficial results released on Friday showed Hamas making strong inroads in key urban centres in the West Bank and Gaza _ an indicator it could do well in this summer’s parliamentary ballot, possibly complicating Mr Abbas’s peace efforts.

Fatah won control of 52 of the 84 municipal councils being contested in the West Bank and Gaza in Thursday’s vote, while Hamas won 24, the election committee said. Smaller factions took four councils, and four were undecided.

Hamas disputed the results, saying it had captured councils in 34 towns and villages.

Mahmoud al Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said many of the independent candidates who won council seats in the West Bank actually belonged to Hamas but chose not to run as members of the group for security reasons.

A team of European observers said that except for a few minor problems, the elections had been fair and democratic, meeting a condition set by international aid donors. The election was fought against the backdrop of a fragile three-month-old ceasefire with Israel engineered by Mr Abbas, a US favourite, a deal that has raised hopes of reviving Middle East peacemaking.

Fatah is committed to a two-state solution with Israel, while Hamas — the driving force behind a suicide bombing campaign against Israelis during the Palestinian uprising — is dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state.

Fatah, founded by the late Yasser Arafat and long the dominant mainstream political faction, had seen its popularity slip amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement. Fatah officials put the best face on the election outcome, which they hope will bolster Mr Abbas’s reform programme. —Reuters