Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and parts of the Gaza Strip voted in municipal elections on Saturday.
The elections are taking place under conditions of war, political division, and widespread public disillusionment.
Polling stations opened at 07:00 local time across the West Bank, where more than one million registered voters were eligible to take part, alongside a limited vote in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah.
The elections are the first of any kind to be held in Gaza since 2006 and the first since the outbreak of Israel’s war on the enclave. Who is running the elections? The vote is being organised by the Palestinian Central Elections Commission, a Ramallah-based body operating under the Palestinian Authority (PA), which administers parts of the West Bank.
Elections are taking place across towns and villages, including areas under full Israeli control. In Gaza, voting has been limited to Deir al-Balah, where around 70,000 eligible voters cast ballots at 12 polling stations.
Officials said the process in Gaza had been improvised due to the destruction caused by the war and the inability to conduct standard voter registration or transport election materials into the enclave. Who is standing in the elections? The field is dominated by candidates affiliated with the Fatah movement led by Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, alongside independent lists.
No other major political factions are formally contesting the elections. Voting is being held for 90 municipal councils and 93 village councils, but the outcome in many areas has already been decided without a poll.
In 42 municipal councils and 155 village councils, only one list is registered, while in some areas no candidates came forward at all. Why isn’t Hamas participating? Hamas, which governs Gaza, is not formally participating.
The group and several other factions were effectively excluded by electoral rules requiring candidates to recognise the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" and to accept its political programme.
The PLO, dominated by Fatah, recognises Israel and has renounced armed struggle, positions rejected by Hamas.
The exclusion reflects the longstanding split between Hamas and the Fatah-led PA. Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007 following an armed conflict with Fatah and ever since then the West Bank and Gaza have effectively been governed separately.
While Hamas is not on the ballot, Reuters reported that its police were involved in security operations around polling stations, and one electoral list in Deir al-Balah was widely seen as aligned with the movement. Why only Deir al-Balah in Gaza? Voting in Gaza has been limited to Deir al-Balah in what officials described as a largely symbolic or "pilot" exercise.
The city was selected because it is one of the few areas not heavily damaged during the war.
Much of the enclave has been devastated by Israeli bombardment, with large swathes of infrastructure destroyed and much of the population displaced, making it extremely difficult to organise polling on a wider scale.
The restrictions also reflect the political and security reality on the ground. Israeli forces continue to carry out deadly strikes across Gaza, and while they have withdrawn from some areas, they maintain control over much of the territory’s movement and access.
At the same time, the Palestinian Authority does not exercise full control in Gaza, where Hamas remains the dominant authority. When were the last elections? The vote comes after nearly two decades without national elections.
The last Palestinian legislative elections were held in 2006, when Hamas won a surprise victory.
The last presidential election took place in 2005, while planned elections in 2021 were indefinitely postponed. Local elections have been held sporadically, most recently in the West Bank in 2022. Elections under occupation In the West Bank, the elections are taking place under Israeli occupation, with local councils limited to providing basic services while broader decisions remain subject to Israeli control.
Many Palestinians do not see the elections as likely to bring meaningful change under these conditions.
"The [Israeli] occupation is the one that rules Tulkarem. It would only be an image shown to the international media - as if we have elections, a state or independence," one voter told AFP . Public mood Early turnout appeared subdued, with initial reports suggesting participation rates of around 10 to 20 percent in parts of the West Bank.
In Gaza, some voters framed participation in symbolic terms. "We want the world to help us overcome the catastrophe of war. Enough wars - it is time to work towards rebuilding Gaza," one resident of the Strip told AFP .
The absence of Hamas, the constraints of occupation, and the devastation in Gaza demonstrate the limited nature of the legitimacy and efficacy of the electoral process.