Turnout in Gaza was just 23 percent; the West Bank was 56 percent. Candidates aligned with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas won the majority of municipal races across the occupied West Bank and parts of Gaza, election officials said. The vote included a 15-seat municipal ballot in Deir el-Balah — the first election in Gaza since 2006 and the first Palestinian polls since the October 2023 fighting — and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa called it "a highly sensitive moment amid complex challenges and exceptional circumstances."

Results and turnout Preliminary counts released by the Central Elections Commission showed lists tied to President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party captured most seats across the West Bank. In many West Bank municipalities, Abbas-aligned lists ran unopposed or faced limited competition, contributing to broad victories for the Palestinian Authority (PA). Chairman of the Central Elections Commission Rami Hamdallah gave the turnout figures: 23 percent in Gaza and 56 percent in the occupied West Bank. In Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, voters chose among lists competing for 15 municipal seats. The list widely seen as linked to Hamas — known locally as Deir el‑Balah Brings Us Together — won two of those 15 seats, according to preliminary tallies. The Nahdat Deir el‑Balah list, backed by Fatah and the PA, won six seats. The remaining seats went to two Gaza-based groups, Future of Deir el‑Balah and Peace and Building, neither formally affiliated with the main factions. Gaza vote was largely symbolic PA officials framed the Deir el-Balah ballot as a pilot exercise meant to show that Gaza remains part of the territory the PA claims for a future Palestinian state. The vote was the first election of any kind in Gaza since 2006, and the first Palestinian polls since the fighting that began in October 2023 affected the enclave. Hamas — which has governed Gaza since 2007 — did not formally nominate candidates in the Gaza ballot and had boycotted the West Bank contest. Still, some local lists were widely seen by residents and analysts as aligned with the movement, making the Deir el-Balah outcome a possible gauge of grassroots backing for groups tied to Hamas amid an ongoing security emergency. Obstacles to voting in Gaza Election officials and reporters on the ground said the Gaza ballot faced logistical and humanitarian barriers, including: - Restrictions on what could be brought into Gaza that delayed or prevented some ballot boxes and voting equipment from reaching parts of the enclave (Al Jazeera reporter Hind Khoudary, Gaza City). - An outdated voter registry. - Mass displacement and widespread homelessness, with many residents focused on survival and daily needs. - Heavy damage to infrastructure and housing from the military campaign that began in October 2023, which limited the scope and turnout of the vote. West Bank sweep and political consolidation In the occupied West Bank, the PA and Fatah benefited from the absence of rival major-party campaigns. Fatah spokesperson Abdul Fattah Dawla said turnout in the West Bank was close to the level seen in the 2022 municipal elections and praised voters for taking part "despite ongoing violence by Israel," language he used to describe the environment in which polling took place. Those victories cement the PA’s local authority in the West Bank. For PA leadership, successful West Bank results provide a domestic record of governance and control at a time when its political reach in Gaza is limited by Hamas’s long-standing rule and by conditions on the ground since the 2023 fighting began.

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Central Elections Commission chairman Rami Hamdallah put turnout at 23 percent in Gaza and 56 percent in the occupied West Bank.

This article was created with AI assistance.