The latest Palestinian opinion polls have shown growing support for the Islamist Hamas, even in the devastated Gaza Strip.
Nearly 90 respondents believed that Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, leader of the more moderate Fatah, which is backed by the West, should resign.
Washington believes that the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the other Palestinian territory, the occupied West Bank, should regain control of the Gaza Strip at the end of the war between Israel and Hamas and govern both territories as a precursor to the state.
US officials said the Palestinian Authority would have to be revitalized, but did not say whether that would mean a change in leadership.
The Palestinian Authority also ruled the Gaza Strip until 2007, when Hamas forcibly took control from forces loyal to Fatah. Since 2006, there have been no elections in the Palestinian territories.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads the most right-wing government in the country's history, rejects any possibility that the Palestinian Authority has a role in Gaza and insists on Israeli control of security in that Palestinian territory.
"Israel is stuck in Gaza," said pollster Kalil Shikaki in an interview with the AP before the release of the Center for Policy and Polling's public opinion poll results.
"Perhaps the next (Israeli) government will decide that Netanyahu is wrong to set all these conditions and can make a decision on unilateral withdrawal from Gaza," he added, assessing that support for the armed struggle is growing especially in the West Bank, while residents Gaze more critical.
Most Palestinians, however, do not support the extremist organization even now, Shikaki said. According to the survey, support for Hamas is 44 percent in the West Bank and 42 percent in Gaza.
Israel's Social Equality Minister Amihai Chikli said today that he does not rule out the possibility of establishing Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip "in certain areas where it makes sense."
Chikli of the conservative Likud, Netanyahu's party, said the Palestinian Authority cannot be part of the governance of Gaza after the war because its education is geared towards terror and killing Jews, echoing the prime minister's position.
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