Palenstinians in the West Bank and Gaza voted on Saturday, with little enthusiasm, to elect their mayors and municipal councilors, the first elections since the beginning of the war in Gaza, amid disillusionment and limited political choices.
Most of the lists were aligned with Fatah, the nationalist party of President Mahmoud Abbas, in power since 2005, or independent. None claimed affiliation with Hamas, Fatah’s Islamist rival that controls most of the Gaza Strip, devastated by over two years of war with Israel.
Almost 1.5 million people were registered on the electoral rolls in the occupied West Bank, and 70,000 in the Deir el-Balah area (central Gaza under Hamas control), the two regions involved, according to the Central Election Commission based in Ramallah.
After the closure of the polling stations, the electoral commission announced a participation rate of 53.4% in the West Bank, compared to 53.7% in 2022, and 22.7% in Deir el-Balah.
An AFP journalist noted significant female participation in Jericho in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
“We are going to elect someone capable of improving the community’s life… especially regarding water supply and road repairs,” commented Manar Salmane, an English professor in the city.
In Gaza, where the population, largely displaced, continues to suffer from various shortages, “these elections are symbolic, but I see them as an expression of our will to live,” said 24-year-old Mohammed al-Hasayna to AFP.
Triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the conflict has claimed over 72,000 lives, according to the territory’s health ministry, whose figures are deemed reliable by the UN. A ceasefire in effect since October 2025 is marred by daily violence.
– “Need for new faces” –
In the West Bank, also plagued by a surge of violence, Ziad Hassan, a businessman from the village of Dura Al-Qaraa, finds the timing “very poorly chosen with the war in Gaza and the ongoing attacks by settlers in the West Bank.”
The West Bank is notably the center of violence involving Israeli settlers, which has escalated since the start of the war in the Middle East on February 28.
“The most important thing is to protect ourselves from the settlers. That’s why we need new faces, young people to fight for our rights,” said Abed Jabaieh, 68, a former mayor. Municipal councils manage essential services such as water, sanitation, and local infrastructure, without legislative power.
Due to the lack of presidential and legislative elections since 2006, they remain one of the few functioning democratic institutions under the Palestinian Authority.
The authority faces corruption allegations, and donors increasingly tie their support to visible reforms, particularly at the local governance level.
– No Hamas list –
Some aspiring candidates claimed they were unable to run, including Mohammad Dweikat in Nablus. He told AFP that people on his list were detained until the end of the registration period.
“Whether independent or from a party, the candidates will not change anything in the city,” said Mahmoud Bader, a businessman voting in Tulkarem (northern West Bank). “It’s the occupation that governs,” he told AFP, as Israel took control of two neighboring refugee camps.
In Nablus, where only one list is running, a woman is expected to be elected mayor for the first time.
The West Bank had municipal elections in 2017 and 2021-2022. But in Gaza, controlled by Hamas since 2007, these are the first elections since the 2006 legislative elections won by the Islamist movement.
According to political science expert Jamal al-Fadi from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the Palestinian Authority aims to gauge its influence in Deir el-Balah with the election, as there have been no recent polls.
