Gazans cast votes in local election for first time in 20 years

Gazan residents participated on Saturday for the first time in two decades in municipal elections organised by the Palestinian Authority.

The elections were held in Judea, Samaria and Deir al-Balah, a city in the center of the Gaza Strip, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The 70,000 residents of Deir al-Balah were chosen as eligible for voting by the P.A.’s Palestinian Central Elections Commission because it had suffered less damage during the war, according to Israeli broadcaster Channel 13.

In addition, more than a million Palestinians in Judea and Samaria were eligible to vote, the report said. Results are expected later on Saturday or on Sunday.

In Deir al-Balah, four electoral lists competed, each with 15 candidates.

Although Hamas boycotted the election, it pledged to honour its results and deployed personnel from its police force to the polling stations, the report continued.

The report added that despite the terrorist group not officially proposing candidates, independent candidates affiliated with Hamas took part.

Speaking over the phone with The New York Times, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem denied any involvement of his organisation in the elections.

Hamas has decided to turn over its authority to the winning list immediately after results are announced, he said, adding that the election in Deir al-Balah is a “pilot” that could be expanded to other cities in the Strip if it is successful.

For Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, these are the fifth local elections since 2005, according to Ynet.

The Hebrew outlet cited a Palestinian Authority official saying under condition of anonymity that the election in Gaza has a profound political implication.

“This is a kind of experiment for the P.A. to establish its agenda in the Gaza Strip, contrary to Hamas’s conduct in recent years when it appointed municipal heads according to its own standards,” the official told Ynet.