Municipal elections in West Bank and Gaza to be held in December: Palestinian officials

Municipal Elections in Palestinian controlled areas of the Gaza Strip and West Bank will be held in December, Central Elections Commission - Palestine said. While the West Bank held a municipal vote four years ago, Gaza hasn’t witnessed the elections ever since Hamas took control of it in 2007. On Friday, the commission announced that the vote is scheduled for December 11 (Phase 1)  but only if Hamas allows it to take place, as reported by Jerusalem Post. 

In June, the Palestinian National Authority (PA) dissolved all the 388 municipal and village councils after their term expired. Since then, the beleaguered areas are being governed by transitional caretaker committees under the supervision of the Ministry of Local Government. Notably, the December vote would cover 387 localities, and the rest 90 localities will be covered under Phase 2 at a later date, as per Times of Israel. Additionally, the refugee camps would also not be affected by the elections as they are administered by the United Nations (UN).

Politics in Palestine  

The state of Palestine is sharply divided between Abbas’s Fatah party which controls authority in the occupied West Bank and the Hamas group which yields power in the Gaza Strip. Observers have stated that it is the disagreement and rivalry between both factions that have primarily stalled elections. However, Israel and its allies advancing towards the interior of the Gaza strip, both sides, in September 2020 came to an agreement and decided to hold an election in 2021.

Pertaining to the same, the Hamas group upheld the Presidential decision and called for “free and fair elections" in the region. “In recent months, we have worked to overcome obstacles in order to reach this day,” it stated in a statement.  It added that it looked to “free elections in which voters can express themselves without pressure and without restrictions, in all fairness and transparency.”

War with Israel 

Following the six-day war in 1967, Israelis occupied the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights and much of the Sinai Peninsula. Subsequently, the Jews commenced the construction of settlements. However, Palestinians objected to it and since then both the communities have been trading barbs over the occupied land. During his tenure, US President Donald Trump promised the then Israeli PM and his close ally Benjamin Netanyahu to continue building in settlements across the West Bank, so long as the construction did not expand beyond communities’ “existing footprints.”

Image: AP