With just two days ahead of the Palestinian legislative elections, the ruling Fatah movement and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), the two key competitors in the ballot, have been engaged in a fierce "war of speech" in the 20-day election campaign due to end on Monday evening.

The Gaza Strip, which is considered a Hamas stronghold, has witnessed heated competition between Fatah candidates and those of Hamas, with both groups resorting to peaceful but fierce verbal fighting against each other.

"There has been a war of speech between them," said Ashraf Ajrami, a Palestinian writer and analyst from Gaza.

"It is good to have a war of words or of speech between Hamas and Fatah. It is better than having a physical war, or violence," Ajrami said, adding that candidates from both groups have adopted smart campaigning skills to lobby supporters.

The ruling Fatah has made good use of local radio stations and sent messages to mobiles to publicize Fatah's advantages and attack the Islamic Hamas' inexperience and weaknesses in politics.

Hamas, in response, attacked Fatah's inability to tackle poverty and chaos in the desert coastal strip as well as Fatah's inner corruption problem.

"What did Fatah leaders and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) officials do to our people over the past 10 years?" said a message from the Hamas campaign group.

"They had politically disappointed our people. They spread chaos, while they are sinking into corruption," said Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, who is running on the Hamas list in the elections.

Zahar's speech came in response to Fatah strongman and candidate Mohamed Dahlan in a debate show, which was broadcast on local Palestinian TV on Sunday night.

"I advice you and all Hamas leaders to stop using religion of Islam in politics, and to stop misleading the people by focusing only on attacking the Palestinian National Authority," said Dahlan.

"In 1996, Hamas leaders refused to participate in the legislative elections and accused the voters of being traitors and collaborators with Israel. Election, whether you, Dr. Zahar accept it or not, is held according to the Oslo Agreement," said Dahlan.

Hamas boycotted the first parliamentary elections held in 1996, citing opposition to the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinians in 1993.

Ten years later, riding high on its surging popularity among grassroots in the occupied territories, Hamas decided to race in the second Palestinian legislative elections slated for Wednesday, claiming that the movement wants to be part of the Palestinian political life.

Tawfiq Abu Khousa, spokesman of the Palestinian Interior Ministry, said that the quiet and peaceful election campaign was beyond the expectation of the observers, who had previously voiced concerns over possible violence and fighting between competing candidates.

"The calm and peaceful competition among candidates, mainly Fatah and Hamas, proves that the Palestinian people are not violent and that they are always eager to implement and practice democracy in their country," said Abu Khousa.

Over 400 candidates, independent or standing on 11 party lists, are competing in the elections to be held in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Voters will choose a new parliament of 132 seats, of which half will be elected by constituencies and the other half will be allocated based on the proportion of the total votes the parties have garnered across the territories.