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Ramallah, West Bank: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction would defeat the governing Hamas group if parliamentary elections were held now, a survey published on Tuesday found.
The poll, conducted by the Ramallah-based independent Near East Consulting, also showed that a majority of Palestinians want the Islamist group to soften its position towards Israel.
The survey showed the once-dominant Fatah faction winning 40 per cent of a parliamentary vote and its rival Hamas 23 per cent. Remaining voters said they would back other factions or refrain from casting ballots.
If presidential elections were held now in the occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, the moderate Abbas would win 38 per cent of the vote compared with 18 per cent for Hamas's Prime Minister Esmail Haniya, the poll showed.
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