Sam Metz and Wafaa Shurafa
Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip: Palestinians voted in the first elections held in part of Gaza in more than two decades, while tens of thousands of Palestinians cast ballots in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The vote on Saturday (Gaza time) in Gaza’s central city of Deir al-Balah was a largely symbolic pilot election, officials said, part of the Palestinian Authority’s effort to politically link Gaza and the West Bank.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas – unpopular in the West Bank and frozen out of US-led postwar plans for ending Hamas rule in Gaza – hopes to establish an independent state in both territories.
Hamas did not field candidates in Deir al-Balah, which in more than two years of war has been damaged by airstrikes but spared an Israeli ground invasion. More than 70,000 people were eligible to vote for the municipal government.
Though turnout was low, voters said they were driven to the polls amid a near-total absence of public services. There and throughout the West Bank, voting determines the makeup of local councils tasked with overseeing water, roads and electricity.
“I came to vote because I have a right to elect members to municipal council so they can provide us with services,” said Ashraf Abu Dan in Deir al-Balah.
The West Bank turnout was near the level of previous local elections, surprising observers who expected that a low participation rate would signal apathy and eroded faith in elected office. Election officials reported a preliminary 53.4 per cent overall turnout after polls closed and 22.7 per cent in Deir al-Balah.
Results in individual races are expected on Sunday, Gazan time.
Voters said they wanted a say over local decision-making.
“Municipal laws need to be enforced so people feel there’s justice,” said Khalid al-Qawasmeh, a voter in the West Bank city of Beitunia.
The Palestinian Authority, which was formed as part of interim peace accords in the 1990s, is the internationally recognised representative of the Palestinian people. It administers semi-autonomous areas of the West Bank but was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2006.
The authority’s popularity has been weakened by corruption and autocratic rule, its failure to establish an independent state while Israel expands West Bank settlements, and divisions with Hamas. Abbas, 90, was elected to what was supposed to be a four-year term in 2005.
Though it has not held presidential or legislative elections since 2006, the Palestinian Authority promoted the local races after reforms it enacted last year in response to demands from international backers.
“We’re talking about geographically linking the West Bank and Gaza Strip,” said Rami Hamdallah, chair of the Ramallah-based Central Election Commission and a former prime minister.
With Gaza mostly decimated by war, the commission chose to hold its first vote in Deir al-Balah but had to improvise because it was unable to conduct traditional voter registration.
Hamdallah said Israel blocked the entry of materials like ballot paper, ballot boxes and ink into Gaza. The commission repurposed materials instead, using wooden ballot boxes and ink from a vaccination drive last year.
The commission said it did not coordinate directly with Israel or Hamas ahead of the vote. Associated Press footage showed security officers keeping order outside polling stations. COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees humanitarian affairs in Gaza, did not respond to questions about blocking materials.
Abbas signed a decree last year reforming elections that now allow voting for individuals rather than slates. In January, another decree required candidates to accept the program of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which leads the Palestinian Authority. It calls for the recognition of Israel and renouncing armed struggle, effectively sidelining Hamas and other factions.
Many cities — including Ramallah and Nablus — did not have contested elections.
Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006 and violently seized control of Gaza from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority a year later. Hamas did not prevent Saturday’s vote from taking place in Deir al-Balah.
Hamas controls the half of Gaza that Israel withdrew from last year, including Deir al-Balah, but the enclave is preparing to transition to a new governance structure under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan. That plan excludes both Fatah and Hamas.
The plan established an international Board of Peace and a committee of unelected Palestinian experts supposed to operate and govern under it. Progress toward further phases, including disarming Hamas, reconstruction and transferring power, is stalled.
The elections did not include Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, a recurring point of tension between Israel and Palestinian leaders. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
AP
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