In the previous municipal elections in March 2022, turnout was 53.7 percent in West Bank cities. Voting in the West Bank ended at 7 pm, with a notable late surge of women voters in Jericho, an AFP journalist said.<\/p>\n
\t \u201cWe will elect someone who can improve the local community\u2026 things like water and repairing the streets,\u201d said Manar Salman, an English teacher in the city. \u201cWe don\u2019t receive much support from outside, and the occupation affects us in many ways\u2026 it limits what the municipality can do.\u201d<\/p>\n Some questioned the election\u2019s timing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t want elections at this time \u2014 not with war in Gaza and settler attacks ongoing in the West Bank,\u201d said Ziad Hassan, a businessman from Dura Al-Qaraa village. \u201cThe decision was imposed on us, and so we are compelled to elect an administrative body for the village council.\u201d<\/p>\n Israeli settler attacks have surged across the West Bank in recent months.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main thing is security from settlers. That\u2019s why we need new faces, young people willing to fight for our rights,\u201d said Abed Jabaieh, 68, former mayor of Ramun village.<\/p>\n \t Most electoral lists were aligned with Abbas\u2019s secular-nationalist Fatah movement or composed of independents. Hamas, Fatah\u2019s bitter rival and the ruling power in Gaza, which took control of Gaza in a violent coup against Fatah in 2007, was absent from the race.<\/p>\n In many municipalities, Fatah\u2011backed lists faced off against independents supported by smaller factions such as the Marxist\u2011Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, designated a terror group by Israel, the US and the European Union.<\/p>\n Municipal councils oversee water, sanitation, and local infrastructure but do not enact legislation. Still, with presidential or legislative elections frozen since 2006, councils have become one of the last remaining democratic mechanisms under the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n The PA faces widespread criticism over corruption, stagnation and declining legitimacy. Western and regional donors have increasingly tied financial and diplomatic support for the PA to reform, particularly in local governance.<\/p>\n The European Union called the vote an \u201cimportant step towards broader democratization and strengthened local governance\u2026 in line with the ongoing reforms process.\u201d<\/p>\n \t The polls closed earlier in Deir al-Balah to allow for counting in daylight because of the lack of electricity in the war-devastated Strip, the CEC told AFP.<\/p>\n Public infrastructure, sanitation and health services in Gaza are all struggling to function after two years of war left swaths of Gaza destroyed.<\/p>\n Under Hamas control since 2007, Gaza experienced its first vote since the 2006 legislative elections that the Islamist terror group won.<\/p>\n The PA is holding elections only in Deir al-Balah to test its \u201csuccess or failure, since there are no post-war opinion polls,\u201d said Jamal al-Fadi, a political scientist at Cairo\u2019s Al-Azhar University.<\/p>\n It was chosen as one of the few areas where the population has not been massively displaced.<\/p>\n After voting there, Mohammed al-Hasayna, 24, said that although the elections were largely symbolic, they served as a sign of people\u2019s \u201cwill to live.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are an educated people with strong determination, and we deserve to have our own state,\u201d he told AFP. \u201cWe want the world to help us overcome the catastrophe of war. Enough wars \u2014 it is time to work towards rebuilding Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t You clearly find our careful reporting of the Iran war valuable, at a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.<\/p>\n Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically during this ongoing conflict.<\/p>\n So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you’ll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing\u00a0exclusive content\u00a0available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n Thank you, \t\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26115265952614-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tPalestinian women line up in front of a polling station to vote for local elections in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, April 25, 2026. (AP\/Abdel Kareem Hana)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26115286382742-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tA Palestinian man votes in local elections in the West Bank village of Beit Furik, April 25, 2026. (AP\/Majdi Mohammad)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26115354462270-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tPalestinians line up to vote in local elections in Al-Ubaidiya, West Bank, April 25, 2026. (AP\/Mahmoud Illean)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tYou appreciate our wartime journalism\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776896609_875_DH-new-headshot-circular-200x200.png\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n