Municipal elections are being held on Saturday in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip, the first ballots in the Palestinian territories since the October 2023 Israel-Hamas war. The Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission says nearly 1.5 million people in the West Bank and about 70,000 in Gaza are eligible to vote.
Gaza has not held elections since the 2006 legislative vote that Hamas won; the group seized control of most of the enclave from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah in 2007. The West Bank has not seen votes since before the start of the 2023 war.
Most electoral lists are aligned with President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party or are independent. There are no Hamas-affiliated lists, though polling by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows Hamas remains the most popular faction in both Gaza and the West Bank. In several West Bank cities, including Nablus and Ramallah, only one list was submitted and thus wins automatically without a vote.
The West Bank vote will elect local council members responsible for services such as water, roads and electricity; these councils do not enact legislation. The Gaza vote is largely symbolic and limited to Deir al-Balah, one of the few areas not subject to an Israeli ground invasion. The PA hopes the election will reinforce its claim to authority over Gaza after its 2007 ouster, though it faces allegations of widespread corruption.
Two years of war that began after Hamas-led attacks on Israel in October 2023 have devastated Gaza. The territory’s Health Ministry reports more than 72,000 deaths; public infrastructure, sanitation and health services are struggling to function.
UN coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov praised the commission for organizing a “credible process,” calling the elections an important chance for Palestinians to exercise democratic rights during a challenging period. Fareed Taamallah, a spokesperson for the Elections Commission, said voting “reflects the will of the Palestinian people to stay on their land and develop their country” and aims “to link the West Bank and Gaza politically as one system.” Many Palestinians view political unity of the two territories as essential for any future bid for statehood.
Israel’s government opposes restoring PA rule in Gaza, while many European and Arab governments broadly support an eventual PA return and an independent Palestinian state.
The commission says it did not coordinate directly with Israel or Hamas in organizing the Gaza vote. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, Germany and others. COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing humanitarian affairs in Gaza, did not respond to questions about allowing election materials into the territory.
Polling stations in the West Bank are scheduled to close at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT), while polls in Deir al-Balah will close at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT) because of the lack of electricity in the war-ravaged area.