Hamas's tone will yield results

Nablus, West Bank: Speaking easy English and shaking the hand of male and female visitors alike, Adli Yaish is hardly the typical face of Hamas.

Rather, the new mayor of Nablus embodies a cadre of Hamas "spinoffs." Gone are the beards and fiery religious rhetoric. Absent are assertions that all Israel is a "Zionist entity" that Muslims must destroy.

Saying they are inspired by though not in lock step with Hamas's militant core, politicians like Yaish have come to the fore in the group's first campaign for national representation. Analysts say it is Hamas's more moderate tone, as well as disillusionment with the ruling Fatah Party, that will yield the group significant election gains.

At the same time, its mix of moderate and hardline messages may complicate Israeli and US stands against dealing with Hamas, which both countries consider a terrorist organisation.

But it is unclear how Hamas's popularity will translate into policy. The group only recently became involved in municipal, let alone national, governance.

Some Palestinians say that Hamas is hoping it doesn't get a majority, preparing instead to be an opposition or second-largest power.

To some observers, appearance of figures like Yaish suggest that Hamas may be placing itself in a more pragmatic spot on the Palestinian spectrum.