Palestinians Vote in First Gaza Local Elections Since 2006, Fatah Dominates Ballot

goodinfo.net — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 05:30:00 +0800

Palestinians Vote in First Gaza Elections in Two Decades

Palestinians voted in local elections on Saturday, including the first poll of any kind to be held in Gaza since 2006.

Scope and Conditions

Elections took place across the occupied West Bank, as well as in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. According to the Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission, more than a million voters across the Palestinian territories are eligible to participate, including 70,000 in Deir al-Balah, where 12 polling stations were scheduled to operate.

The central city was chosen as the sole Gaza area where elections would take place because it was not as badly damaged as other places during the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile ceasefire is in place as part of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, which halted the fighting in October last year.

Hamas Excluded

Hamas was not allowed to stand, and several other factions boycotted over a requirement that candidates recognise the authority of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), which dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA). Fatah, the faction led by President Mahmoud Abbas that dominates the PLO, was violently ousted from Gaza after the last elections there, triggering a power struggle between the two groups.

While Hamas was not on the ballot in Deir al-Balah, Reuters reported that one slate of candidates was widely seen as being aligned with it. The group’s police force was involved in security operations around polling stations.

Divided Public Opinion

Hamas’s popularity has fallen in Gaza because of the war, which some Gazans partially blame on Hamas for launching its attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, triggering Israeli military retaliation. But it has surged in the West Bank, where there is widespread disillusionment with the PA run by Abbas and his Fatah party.

Many Palestinians view the PA as corrupt and ineffective, having failed to improve the economic lives of ordinary people or end Israel’s decades-long military occupation.

Limitations of the Elections

With Fatah the only major faction on the ballot across the Palestinian territories — and guaranteed victory in some districts because no opposition candidates are running — these elections underscore the continued lack of unity between the two main Palestinian factions.

The field narrowed after several groups objected to an election law requiring candidates to commit to recognising “the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”

UN deputy special co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Dr Ramiz Alakbarov, said earlier this week the elections “represent an important opportunity for Palestinians to exercise their democratic rights during an exceptionally challenging period.”

Voices from Voters

Speaking after voting in Deir al-Balah, Mohammed al-Hasayna told AFP the election served as a sign of people’s “will to live.” “We want the world to help us overcome the catastrophe of war. Enough wars — it is time to work towards rebuilding Gaza.”

In the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, businessman Mahmud Bader expressed scepticism about meaningful change. “The 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.”

Hamas replaced Fatah as the largest Palestinian faction in the 2006 legislative council election, a result which raised tensions and preceded violent clashes. Fatah was forcibly ousted from Gaza the following year, cementing a political divide between the territory and the occupied West Bank that persists to this day.

Source: BBC News