Gaza residents helped to register for elections

In a scene of democracy long missing in Gaza, election workers in fluorescent orange vests are touring the Palestinian enclave to help residents register for upcoming polls despite doubts clouding them.

If held, the vote would be the first since 2006, when the militant Hamas group, participating for the first time, scored a surprising landslide victory against the long dominant Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas.

A year later, Hamas seized Gaza by force, routing pro-Abbas forces and leaving the Palestinian Authority administering autonomous enclaves in the West Bank.

Abbas decreed legislative elections be held in May, followed by presidential polls in August.

After two days of talks to overcome hurdles threatening elections, Palestinian factions reaffirmed Tuesday to proceed with the call for the election and to agree on mechanisms for holding it.

No conclusive agreement has been reached and the factions will go for another round of talks in Egypt next month.

But on the ground, officials from the Central Elections Commission say they want to secure as many eligible voters as possible.

Since the widening of the Palestinian split in 2007, repeated attempts at reconciliation have all but failed.

This raised fears that residents will not take the call for updating their information in the electoral register seriously.

So on Wednesday, 28 teams from the Central Elections Commission set off, touring streets, stores, hospitals, schools and rural areas where internet access is difficult.

But ECE officials say the turnout in Gaza City, the largest electoral constituency, was high.

More than 90% of the 385,000 eligible voters have registered so far, said Mohammed Abu el-Khair, an ECE official.

The voter register closes on Feb. 16.

"There is a passion by the people. The last legislation elections took place in 2006 and now we are in 2021, so a large portion of the youth did not participate or vote in an election," el-Khair said.

One of the youths who will vote is Mohammed Al-Jawabra. He graduated with a degree in journalism shortly after Hamas took over Gaza, but he failed to find a job.

Unemployment in Gaza skyrocketed to around 50% and is higher among the graduates, in large part due to an Israeli-Egyptian blockade meant to isolate Hamas, which doesn't recognize Israel and with whom it fought three deadly and destructive wars.

"I want to see a change here in terms of economy, unemployment and many things like (border) crossing points," said Al-Jawabra, 34, who sells coffee and tea on a sidewalk cart.

"I'm sorry to say that there are youths who can't work at this time and graduates could not be hired," he said, as the ECE team member updated his information on a tablet.