Strategic Assessment

preliminary observations on hamas' victory. elections for the palestinian legislative council were held on january 25, too late to allow for a full-length analysis of their significance in this issue of strategic assessment. it is already clear, however, that the outcome of the elections ushers in a period of profound uncertainty. to the surprise of many observers, and perhaps even to itself, hamas won a resounding victory over the ruling fatah party, taking 76 of the 132 seats in the council. this victory puts an end to almost forty years of fatah hegemony over the palestinian national movement and brings to power an islamist movement dedicated to the destruction of israel and viewed as a terrorist organization by most of the non-arab world.