Palestinians in the Israel-occupied West Bank and a central area of besieged Gaza are heading to the polls for municipal elections in a first vote since Israel's genocide in Gaza, marked by a narrow political field and widespread disillusionment.
Nearly 1.5 million people are registered to vote in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as well as 70,000 people in Gaza's Deir al Balah area on Saturday, according to the Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission.
Most electoral lists are aligned with president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party or running as independents.
There are no lists affiliated with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
In most cities, Fatah-backed candidates will run against independent lists headed by candidates from factions such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
‘Credible process’
Mahmud Bader, a businessman from the northern occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem, where two adjacent refugee camps have been under Israeli military occupation for over a year, said he would vote despite having little hope for meaningful change.
"The (Israeli) 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" he told AFP news agency.
Polling stations in the occupied West Bank will be open from 7:00 am (0400 GMT) to 7:00 pm, while in Deir al Balah, polls will close at 5:00 pm to facilitate counting in daylight due to the lack of electricity in the war-devastated enclave, the elections commission told AFP.
UN coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov commended the commission for organising a "credible process".
"Saturday's elections represent an important opportunity for Palestinians to exercise their democratic rights during an exceptionally challenging period", Alakbarov said in a statement.
'Confirmation of existence'
Fadi said Deir al Balah was chosen as it was one of the only places in Gaza where "the population has remained largely in place and not been displaced" by more than two years of genocide by Israel.
Farah Shaath, 25, was excited to vote for the first time.
"Although it is unlike any election in the world, it is a confirmation of our continued existence in the Gaza Strip despite everything," she told AFP.
The election commission says it has recruited polling staff from civil society organisations and hired "a private security company to secure polling centres" for the Gaza vote, spokesman Fareed Taamallah told AFP.
