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Palestinians vote in local elections as polls open for the first time ...
Palestinians in the West Bank and a central area of Gaza began voting Saturday in municipal elections in a first vote since the Gaza war, marked by a narrow political field and widespread disillusionment. Nearly 1.5 million people are registered to vote in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as well as 70,000 people in Gaza's Deir el-Balah area, according to the Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission. Polling stations opened at 7 am (0400 GMT). AFP footage from Al-Bireh in the West Bank and Deir el-Balah in Gaza showed election officials in polling stations as Palestinians came to cast ballots. Most electoral lists are aligned with president Mahmud Abbas's secular-nationalist Fatah party or running as independents. There are no lists affiliated with Fatah's archrival Hamas, which controls nearly half of the Gaza Strip. In most cities, Fatah-backed tickets will run against independent lists headed by candidates from factions such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (Marxist-Leninist). Mahmud Bader, a businessman from the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, where two adjacent refugee camps have been under Israeli military control for over a year, said he would vote despite having little hope for meaningful change. "Whether candidates are independent or partisan, it has no effect and will have no effect or benefit for the city," he told AFP. "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." In many cities, including Nablus and Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, only one list has been submitted, meaning it wins automatically without needing a vote. Polling stations in the West Bank will close at 7pm, while polls in Deir al-Balah will close at 5pm to facilitate counting in daylight due to the lack of electricity in the war devastated strip, the elections commission told AFP. UN coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov commended the commission for organising a "credible process". "Saturday's elections represent an important opportunity for Palestinians to exercise their democratic rights during an exceptionally challenging period", Alakbarov said in a statement ahead of polls. 'Confirmation of existence' Gaza, which has been under Hamas control since 2007, will see its first vote since the legislative elections of 2006 that the Islamist movement won. Abbas's Palestinian Authority is holding elections only in Deir el-Balah "a...
Palestinian local elections give some Gazans a chance to vote for the ...
Item 1 of 4 A Palestinian man shows his ink-stained finger after voting in a municipal council election, in Al Bireh, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman [1/4]A Palestinian man shows his ink-stained finger after voting in a municipal council election, in Al Bireh, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabSummaryLocal elections will only be held in one Gaza cityPalestinian Authority hopes vote paves way for its returnIsrael controls much of Gaza and West BankCAIRO/RAMALLAH, April 25 (Reuters) - Palestinians were voting in local elections on Saturday that include Gaza for the first time in two decades and will gauge the political mood at a time when Israel's government is seeking to destroy any future for a Palestinian state.The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority hopes the symbolic inclusion of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah will help reinforce its claim to authority over the war-torn territory, from where it was ousted by Hamas in 2007. Sign up here.Gazans, who are still struggling to meet their basic needs in the devastated enclave, welcomed the opportunity to vote."I've been hearing about elections since I was born," said Adham Al-Bardini, sitting next to the family's cooking pots outside their tent home in the city. "We are eager to take part ... so we can change the reality imposed on us."ISRAEL HAS EXTENDED CONTROL OVER GAZA AND WEST BANKSince a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza between Hamas and Israel took effect in October, intermittent talks led by the United States have made little progress towards a settlement that envisages international supervision of Gaza.European and Arab governments broadly support an eventual return of Palestinian Authority governance in Gaza, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state comprising Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule under Israeli occupation.Western diplomats say local elections could pave the way for the first national elections in nearly two decades and help advance reforms to increase transparency and accountability that the Palestinian Authority says are already well under way.They are the first Palestinian elections to be held since the Gaza war started more than two years ago with the cross-border Hamas assault on southern Israeli communities. Municipal elections were last held in the West Bank four y...
Explainer: Palestinian Municipal Elections - J Street
Download as PDF More than a million Palestinians in the West Bank and in Gaza's Deir al-Balah municipality will have an opportunity to vote on April 25 for members of local councils. The elections are taking place under inauspicious conditions: economic hardship, settler violence, an uncertain political horizon and, of course, in Gaza amidst unprecedented destruction. This explainer ...
Palestinian Authority local elections start for first time in years
A Palestinian man shows his ink-stained finger after voting in a municipal council election, in Al Bireh, in the West Bank, April 25, 2026.
