Hamas loses ground in elections

JERUSALEM -- The Islamic militant group Hamas, the main threat to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's rule, suffered a setback in local elections in dozens of West Bank towns and villages, final results indicated yesterday.

With Abbas's Fatah movement winning 54 percent of Thursday's vote and Hamas winning 26 percent, the outcome was in line with a modest rise in support for Fatah following Israel's pullout from Gaza last month.

However, the results are not necessarily a bellwether for Abbas's most crucial electoral test -- parliament elections in January. The voting in 104 communities was mostly about local issues, such as roads and water, and to many voters the clan membership of candidates mattered more than party affiliation.

Also yesterday, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group with ties to Fatah, threatened to renew attacks on Israelis after two of its gunmen were killed in a shootout with Israeli troops near the West Bank city of Nablus. Also near Nablus, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 13-year-old stone thrower after the army said they came under fire.

Israel has been waging a military offensive against militants for the past week, in response to the firing of 38 homemade rockets from Gaza that wounded several residents in Israeli border communities. The last rocket was fired Tuesday, but Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz of Israel said in an interview published yesterday that the campaign of airstrikes, targeted killings of militants, and mass arrests would continue.

''We don't intend to ease up until they [the militants] understand we have a deterrent policy," Mofaz told the weekly Jerusalem. ''We have made it clear that we won't allow this [rocket fire] to go on. The Gaza Strip will shake."

Mofaz added, though, that he was ''not eager" to send troops back into Gaza.

The military campaign has strained an informal truce that largely held since February, despite several spikes in violence. In the Balata refugee camp, Ala Sanakra, an Al Aqsa leader, said the group would no longer abide by the truce. ''We will pay back the Israelis wherever we can. We will renew the uprising," he said. Similar threats came Thursday from another Al Aqsa leader.

The truce is a cornerstone of Abbas's plan to co-opt the armed factions by offering jobs and political participation. A collapse of the cease-fire would pose a grave risk to Abbas's rule and weaken him before parliamentary elections. Abbas has said he will not disarm the militants, despite repeated Israeli demands. Al Aqsa members said yesterday that Abbas is urging gunmen to hold their fire.