stan,
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The Palestinian population at large is not stupid right? Because if we assume they are not, which I do, then they know exactly what the consequences of elected Hamas will be. They can vote for them based on their running a tighter ship, but they know that this is not the only thing they stand for. Plus, compare getting money and then having a lot of it be diverted for corruption, or simply not getting barely any money from the outside. The difference in real-world impact isn't that much. And they can't get money from anywhere but the outside, because the only "factories" the Palestinians have are ones building bomb belts.
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voters were voting against corruption, and more than a few palestinians and outside observers believed that hamas would moderate themselves upon getting into power (which they have, just not anywhere close to enough).
it's hard not to vote against the corrupt bureaucrat, when the other choice is the one organization that actually fields medical services, support and lending networks, etc.
in any case, the palestinians are learning a bit more what exactly electing hamas entails now, and as you may imagine, hamas isn't quite as popular as it was before. to look at the bright side of things, fatah knows why it lost against hamas, and they have finally started to take halting steps to clean up their act, as well as at least make attempts to unify/streamline their leadership. these are positive benefits not just for the palestinians but for israel, as consolidation means that the israelis will have less to fear of revanchist splinter groups screwing things up.