GAZA, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- After one year with parliamentary majority, the Palestinian Hamas party is blamed for a worsening of security by 76 percent of Palestinians in a poll.
Nabil Kukali, director of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, polled 1,015 residents in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, and found 80 percent feared for their own safety, Haaretz reported Monday.
The poll also found 60 percent support for early elections for both the Palestinian Authority's presidency and parliament. The presidential incumbent, Fatah party leader Mahmoud Abbas, had 35 percent support compared with 26 percent support for Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, and 22 percent for Fatah Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti.
Barghouti is serving a life sentence in an Israeli prison for his involvement in terror attacks, the newspaper said.
