Kalkilya is the largest Arab urban center west of several large Israeli communities in Samaria, including Ginot Shomron, Karnei Shomron and Kedumim. It also is adjacent to Kfar Saba, north of Tel Aviv, and the community of Kochav Yair, where Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz and several senior IDF officers live.
The Hamas victories in Thursday's local elections already have had their effect on Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas). He immediately called for an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "to push the peace process forward and to discuss the implementation of the agreements between us, like that of Sharm El-Sheik," he said.
Israel agreed to turn over five cities, including Kalkilya, to the PA, and Abu Mazen is anxious to show Hamas that he is strong enough to convince Israel to withdraw from Kalkilya. Israel has frozen the process because of PA failure to control terror.
Abu Mazen's Fatah party won 56 per cent of the vote and about 45 local councils in the elections, but Hamas took control of 32 councils, with another 16 still awaiting final results. Hamas won all 15 seats on the Kalkilya council and also won the elections in two other large cities, including Rafiach on the Egyptian-Israel border, where terrorists have smuggled weapons through cross-border tunnels. However, Fatah officials are accusing Hamas of election fraud and calling for new elections in Rafiach and Beit Lahiya. According to PA representative and Fatah member Sufiyan Abu Zeideh, Hamas supporters used identity cards of dead persons to cast multiple ballots, thereby creating a sweeping victory in Rafiach and Beit Lahiya.
Still, Hamas' respectable showing worries the PA. Kadura Fares, a PA parliament member and representative of the Fatah youth movement, said, "We expected better results." He said that Fatah will have to work hard to win in the PA legislative assembly elections set for mid-July.
The Hamas victories in Thursday's local elections already have had their effect on Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas). He immediately called for an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "to push the peace process forward and to discuss the implementation of the agreements between us, like that of Sharm El-Sheik," he said.
Israel agreed to turn over five cities, including Kalkilya, to the PA, and Abu Mazen is anxious to show Hamas that he is strong enough to convince Israel to withdraw from Kalkilya. Israel has frozen the process because of PA failure to control terror.
Abu Mazen's Fatah party won 56 per cent of the vote and about 45 local councils in the elections, but Hamas took control of 32 councils, with another 16 still awaiting final results. Hamas won all 15 seats on the Kalkilya council and also won the elections in two other large cities, including Rafiach on the Egyptian-Israel border, where terrorists have smuggled weapons through cross-border tunnels. However, Fatah officials are accusing Hamas of election fraud and calling for new elections in Rafiach and Beit Lahiya. According to PA representative and Fatah member Sufiyan Abu Zeideh, Hamas supporters used identity cards of dead persons to cast multiple ballots, thereby creating a sweeping victory in Rafiach and Beit Lahiya.
Still, Hamas' respectable showing worries the PA. Kadura Fares, a PA parliament member and representative of the Fatah youth movement, said, "We expected better results." He said that Fatah will have to work hard to win in the PA legislative assembly elections set for mid-July.