Palestinians cast vote in historic municipal polls

Electors in Gaza and West Bank head to booths for the first time in years

Agencies

Ramallah 

Palestinians in battle-scarred Gaza voted in local elections on Saturday. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank also, voters exercised their franchise. Local elections have not been held in the West Bank since 2022, while the last poll of any kind in Gaza was two decades ago.

Turnout may reflect public trust in a system led by aging leaders in the West Bank as Gaza prepares for a transition from Hamas rule. The West Bank vote will determine the makeup of councils overseeing water, roads and electricity. The vote in a single city in Gaza is largely symbolic, with officials calling it a pilot.

Though it has not held presidential or legislative elections since 2006, the Pales­tinian Authority promoted the local races following refo­rms enacted last year. Under the slogan “We Stay”, the Central Election Commis­sion has encouraged participation among 70,000 eligible voters in Deir al-Balah and nearly 15,00,000 in the West Bank.

Most of the electoral lists are aligned with President Mahmud Abbas’s secular-nationalist Fatah party or feature candidates running as independents. There are no lists affiliated with Fatah’s arch-rival Hamas, which controls nearly half of the Gaza Strip.

Spokesperson Fareed Taamallah said voting “reflec­ts the will of the Palestinian people to stay on their land”. The commission chose Deir al-Balah as it was spared an Israeli ground invasion, despite airstrike damage. “The idea is to link the West Bank and Gaza politically as one system,” Taamallah said.

The commission has not coordinated with Israel or Hamas for the Gaza vote and has been unable to send ballot materials into the enclave. COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing humanitarian affairs, did not respond to queries regarding election materials.

Average turnout in past local elections has been 50% to 60%. President Abbas, 90, signed a decree last year overhauling the system, allowing voting for individuals and raising quotas for women. However, another decree required candidates to accept the Palestine Libera­tion Organisation program­me, effectively sidelining Hamas.