Despite a low turnout, the allies of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas won the majority of seats on Sunday in municipal elections held for the first time since 2006.
Published on: 04/27/2026 - 6:03 p.m.
Historic elections in Gaza. The allies of Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, won the majority of seats on Sunday April 26 in the municipal elections held the day before in the Palestinian territories, election officials announced.
These were the first elections organized in Gaza since 2006 and the victory of Hamas in the legislative elections against the Fatah of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which led to a brief civil war from which the Islamist movement emerged victorious to take control of the Palestinian enclave.
The Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas said in January that it would try to hold the elections "wherever possible", a move seen as a symbolic gesture intended to show that the Gaza Strip must be an integral part of a future Palestinian state.
Hamas absent from the lists
Despite a low participation rate - 23% in the West Bank and 56% in Deir al-Balah, one of the rare localities in the Gaza Strip which is not controlled by Israeli forces, according to official figures - this election was organized "at a highly sensitive moment in a context marked by complex challenges and exceptional circumstances", declared the Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammad Mustafa, when announcing the elections. results.
Also read Housing, food, money: how do the inhabitants of Gaza survive?
These elections represent "an important step in the broader national process aimed at strengthening democratic life (...) and ultimately, achieving the unity of our homeland", he added.
Hamas did not present a list in its name and did not explicitly support any candidate on the grounds that a Palestinian Authority decree required, it said, candidates to recognize the State of Israel. The Islamist group also boycotted elections in the occupied West Bank.
A list, including several personalities favorable to Hamas, according to residents and observers, won only two seats out of 15.
Mahmoud Abbas's allies victorious in the West Bank
The "Nahdat Deir al-Balah" list, supported by the Palestinian president's Fatah party, won six, with the rest being gleaned by unaffiliated Gazan groups.
In the occupied West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas's allies won the elections, despite fierce competition.
Fatah spokesperson Abdul Fattah Dawla noted that the turnout was close to that of elections held in 2022, praising those who came to polling stations despite the violence committed by Israel.
“By electing figures linked to Fatah, voters appear to be seeking unqualified international support for municipal management and gradual political change that could extend beyond the local level,” said Palestinian political analyst Reham Ouda.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem downplayed the significance of the election results, saying they had no national impact.
With Reuters
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