Questions are raised about relations with Israel and the impact on upcoming Israeli elections. Expectations for better living conditions are seen as the main cause behind Hamas' breakthrough.

Beirut (AsiaNews) - "Victory leaves Hamas with a dilemma", titles Lebanonwire, echoing a common them in most Arab papers. But they also agree that Palestine is in for a change. They all stress that Palestinians expect better living conditions from Hamas' victory, but they split over its international repercussions. Some see the peace process dead in the water; others are convinced that Hamas will have to move away from armed struggle and the destruction of the State of Israel. Some are wondering what impact the victory by Palestinian fundamentalists might have on the upcoming Israeli elections.

For Lebanonwire, Hamas' victory was not expected, but like The Guardian, it stresses that the moment has come for pragmatism and level-headed minds to act, not for rash decisions.

Democracy as the answer to Islamic terrorism shaped US policy over the past two years. Palestinians clearly responded by voting into power terrorists.

In just over a year, Arafat has died, Sharon is in a coma and the masterminds who sent so many suicide bombers to scuttle any hope for peace are now in power.

The Middle East is entering dangerous and unchartered waters. Victory by radical Islamists in Palestine can strengthen the religious right in Israel where elections in next March.

Speaking on al-Jazeera, Talal Awkal from Gaza said that everything is bound to change, that a new age is dawning, one of regime-change, new relations with the people. And the winners also know they have to change.

Hamas will have to make key decisions concerning its political programme over the next few days; it will have to determine how it will respond to the needs of a desperate population.

People in Gaza went to the polls hoping that the first Palestinian parliamentary elections in a decade will mark the end of poverty and joblessness, wrote the Kuwait Times.

In Lebanon, L'Orient Le jour writes that an Islamist wave swept over the Palestinian territories. Domestically, relations between Hamas activists and their Fatah adversaries are going to get worse. Internationally, Hamas' victory "seems to have sunk any prospect for a renewed peace process".

The Daily Star echoes similar views. A "political earthquake that could bury any hope for reviving peace talks with Israel" has taken place.

In the United Arab Emirates, The Gulf Today warns that Hamas' victory might shuffle political cards in the region and threaten the peace process with Israel.

Israel and the United States must accept reality, insists The Saudi Gazette and open new channels for peace talks in the Middle East.

Iran's state news agency IRNA quoted a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry. As one might have expected, he congratulated the winners, saying that "the vote showed that Palestinians support resistance against Israel". The massive turnout indicates "the firm determination of Palestinians to continue struggles and resistance against Zionist occupiers".

On the other hand, Bassem Khoury, a Palestinian restaurant owner,  is quoted in Lebanonwire saying: "If they declare that secular law has priority over Islamic law I will relax, but if they elevate Islamic law, I will pack my bags." 

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