I believe that Hamas's victory is a test, the main reason why so many palestinians are disillusioned with Fatah is because it has always tried to have the cake and eat the cake. they said they were a peaceful party yet PFLP and other fatah organizations are fully armed and extremely dangerous, a lot of news is posted in the mainstream. Gunfights in west bank are commonplace between Fatah members and security forces. Also Fatah was horrendously currupt, essentially using their one party standard to steal as much money away from development for the palestinians.(Colpy you thought the liberals were bad, Fatah was even worse)
Hamas seemed to make a lot of sense for ppl because of the free alternative benefits Hamas offered, incuding hospitals, educational subsidization, social welfare programs. It appeared to many palestinians that they mite actually run the country better.
The fact is Hamas may be able to run the country better without the peace proess. Show that you can run a country before getting one. Invariably for Hamas to make this work they will have to actively crush the arms trade and disarm themselves. If they can create the sort of success in government as they have on the street without violence then a informal ceasefire will exist. This will breed calm and resurgence between the arabs and israelis.
Lets face it, the last decade or so has been one hell of a roller coster and neither side is ready or willing to give up real concessions. The peace process is in tatters. If Hamas can lead the Palestinian ppl out of this mess, without all the illusions that existed during Arafat's time we could see a real peace process in 5 or 6 years. The next few years will be a telling sign.
Otherwise a very much revamped Fatah party will succeed Hamas, one that isnt prvy to a culture of entitlement, one that is fully unarmed and uses the security forces to quash the arms trade.
I would certainly like to see a mutually beneficial solution to this mess before I pass away. Israel/Palestine is a beautiful country, Jerusalem/Al-Quds is an amazing city.