Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah movement came out ahead in the Palestinian municipal election despite a strong showing by the Islamic militant group Hamas, unofficial final results showed on Friday.

Hamas won local elections in the West Bank town of Qalqilyah and was headed for victory in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah, Palestinian election officials said.

Hamas and the ruling Fatah movement, tainted by corruption allegations, competed in 84 communities Thursday. Preliminary results indicated that the ruling Fatah movement won 52 of the races and Hamas won 30. However, seizing two major towns would be considered an achievement for the Islamists, analysts said. Smaller factions took four councils. Hamas disputed the figures and said it was not ready to concede defeat.

Late on Thursday night, exit polls manned by Khalil Shakaki's Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research at 14 of the 82 central authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip revealed sweeping victories for Fatah in several Gaza Strip authorities, including Rafah in the south, Beit Lahia in the north and Absan in the center.

Hamas claimed victories in the El-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza and in the West Bank city of Qalqilyah, where it appears to have won 12 of 15 city council seats. If the exit poll results are verified, Qalqilyah's next mayor will be from Hamas.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) appeared to have won in the Christian towns of Beit Sahur and Beit Jala, exit polls show. In Bethlehem, Hamas won six of seven council seats allocated to Muslims, while Fatah and the PFLP will share the eight seats allocated to Christians.

Although Shakaki's polls are considered to be reliable, the sample includes only 14 authorities, and therefore, it is difficult to reach clear conclusions prior to the official announcement of results Sunday. However, unofficial results reported by external observers confirmed the exit polls.

A win would be a major boost for Fatah, which had seen its popularity slip amid corruption allegations while support for Hamas was on the rise. It would also reassure Fatah ahead of a parliamentary vote due in July.

A Palestinian election official said preliminary results showed Fatah winning a majority of councils.

"All the information being spread is false. Our observers in the municipal councils where Hamas is participating say that our movement is making very good progress," Hamas West Bank leader Hassan Youssef said. He also complained of balloting violations.

The election comes against the backdrop of a fragile cease-fire with Israel engineered by Abbas that has raised hopes of reviving Middle East peacemaking following over four years of violence.

Fatah supporters fired guns into the air in Gaza's border town of Rafah to celebrate the results, which are seen as a sign of confidence in political and security reforms by Abbas.

"The preliminary results assure the Palestinian people that Fatah continues to be the strongest and the most influential faction," said Jibril Rajoub, a security adviser to Abbas.

Hamas, which boycotted previous polls, posed an electoral challenge to Fatah after gaining street credibility for its fight against Israel, religious piety and charitable services.

Fatah feared it could get hammered by Hamas in upcoming parliamentary polls, which a senior official said could be delayed by disputes over election law changes some feel may aid Hamas.

The election had a festive air as the parties erected tents and greeted arriving voters, but the mood deteriorated after polls closed with supporters of both sides claiming victory.

About 20 masked men stormed two polling stations in the West Bank village of Attarah and destroyed three ballot boxes as votes were being tallied, an election official said.

Gaza militants fired two rockets into southern Israel shortly after exit polls predicted a Fatah victory, and medics said one struck a building, causing panic but no injuries.

More than 2,500 candidates vied for the council seats and turnout was high - 80 percent in Gaza and 70 percent in the West Bank, officials said. Some 400,000 Palestinians were eligible to vote.

Hamas had trounced Fatah in an earlier round of municipal voting in Gaza in January and made a strong showing in a similar West Bank poll in December, although Fatah got more seats. A final round is planned for later this year.

Hamas is anchoring the truce by militant groups but is also sworn to destroying Israel.

Hamas candidates on Thursday ran on the slogan "partners in blood, partners in decision-making". Some voters said they wanted power-sharing after decades of Fatah domination.

"I prefer that two factions rather than one be in charge for the sake of balance. People want the new council to end graft and get rid of unqualified officials," said Khalil al-Ashqar, 51, as he voted in the north Gaza town of Beit Lahiya.

Abbas, who took office in January, has vowed reforms to weed out unaccountable, incompetent officials and establish law and order. Last month he forcibly retired loyalists of the late Yasser Arafat in a security service revamp.