Polygraph

Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas.

Posted by The Rob Carson Show, Checked

Polygraph verdictTrue
Sources
8 support3 context
Said
1 time·
Confidence
80%
The Rob Carson ShowOct 5, 2026
View on Podcast ↗
Video frame
40 claimsThe check →

The claim, extracted from the speaker's shorter 'They elected Hamas,' is supported: Hamas won the January 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council election, which covered Gaza and the West Bank, and HRW and Snopes both confirm Hamas won among Gaza voters.

What was said

… And shame on you if you somehow blame Israel for going back into Gaza and going after the people who perpetrated it. And I'm sorry that they use Palestinian people as cannon fodder. But many of the times they are willing cannon fodder. They elected Hamas. They allowed Hamas to dig tunnels under hospitals and day care centers and in school yards to place their missiles. So you know what? You had your shot at a two-state solution. And you know, too bad. It's so sad for you. Too bad, so sad for you. …
The Rob Carson Show · · from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. Hamas won the January 25, 2006 Palestinian legislative election, taking 74 of 132 seats (Reuters chronology, GovInfo primary record, Wikipedia, KAS results table).[1][3][6][7]

Supports. Snopes states it was true that Hamas won the latest election among Palestinians in Gaza, held in 2006, though not by a majority of votes.[2]

Supports. Human Rights Watch reports that Hamas won the Palestinian National Authority elections in Gaza and the West Bank, defeating Fatah.[8]

Supports. NYT and NPR reporting from January 26, 2006 describe Hamas's preliminary win of 76 of 132 seats, a clear majority, in the Palestinian legislative elections.[4][5]

Context. Snopes's caution concerns claims that a majority of Gazans elected Hamas; the vote share (about 44%) was below a majority, and the seat majority was the actual result. The claim as worded does not assert a vote majority.[2][6]

Context. Some sources (the 2026 Al Jazeera item on Khalil al-Hayya, and opinion pieces) concern later internal Hamas leadership votes or make characterizations, and do not bear on the 2006 election outcome.[9][10][11]

Sources

11 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 primary, 2 tier 2, 6 not rated

  1. 1CHRONOLOGY-Key events since Hamas came to powerreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
  2. 2People Claim a Majority of Palestinians in Gaza Elected Hamas — Here's Why It Isn't That Simplesnopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
  3. 3PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONSgovinfo.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
  4. 4www.nytimes.com · 2006/01/26 · internationalVictory Ends 40 Years of Political Domination by Arafat's Partynytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
  5. 5Hamas Wins Majority in Palestinian Elections : NPRnpr.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
  6. 62006 Palestinian legislative election - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: supports, context
  7. 7Results of the Elections of the Palestinian Legislative ...kas.de · not rated · cited for: supports
  8. 8Internal Fight: Palestinian Abuses in Gaza and the West Bank ...hrw.org · not rated · cited for: supports
  9. 9‘We just want to live’: Palestinians in Gaza react to Hamas electionaljazeera.com · not rated · cited for: context
  10. 10Gazans Popularly Elected Hamasthenews-gazette.com · not rated · cited for: context
  11. 11Tough Questions About Gaza Answered | AJCajc.org · not rated · cited for: context

Where this claim was made

Said in 1 published post

How Polygraph checks a claim

Our Weekly Newsletter

The Readout

The week's most-shared posts, checked. What they claimed, how they argued, and what held up.

Unsubscribe any time. See our privacy policy.