Palestinian Local Elections Held in West Bank and Deir al-Balah, Gaza, for First Time in Years

Palestinians voted in local elections on Saturday, April 25, 2026, across the occupied West Bank and in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, marking the first poll of any kind in Gaza since 2006 and the first in two decades. 5 million people are registered to vote, and in Gaza's Deir al-Balah area, where 70,000 people are eligible, according to the Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission.

More than one million voters across the Palestinian territories were eligible to participate, with 12 polling stations scheduled to operate in Deir al-Balah.

Hamas and other groups did not take part in the local elections. Hamas was not allowed to stand, and several other factions boycotted the elections over a requirement that candidates recognize the authority of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. One slate of candidates in Deir al-Balah was widely seen as aligned with Hamas, according to Reuters.

Fatah, the faction led by President Mahmoud Abbas and which dominates the PLO, was violently ousted from Gaza after the 2006 elections, which Hamas won. Hamas replaced Fatah as the largest Palestinian faction in the 2006 legislative council election. The Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank, was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007.

Deir al-Balah was chosen as the sole Gaza area for elections because it was not as badly damaged as other places during the Israel-Hamas war. U.S. President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan, which halted fighting in October 2025.

Hamas continues to operate in parts of Gaza where Israeli forces have withdrawn, and its police force was involved in security operations around polling stations in Deir al-Balah, according to Reuters. Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering Israeli military retaliation.

Local elections have not been held in the West Bank since 2022, while the last poll of any kind in Gaza was in 2006.

Election results are expected late on Saturday or on Sunday. Makeshift polling stations were constructed in Deir al-Balah, where voting occurred amid banners bearing candidate lists hanging from buildings, and some voting took place in tents with the process ending two hours early due to electricity constraints. ' 'We want the world to help us overcome the catastrophe of war.

Enough wars - it is time to work towards rebuilding Gaza,' he said. In the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, businessman Mahmud Bader told AFP he had 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 said. In Deir al-Balah, resident Adham Al-Bardini, sitting next to his family's cooking pots outside their tent home, said, 'I've been hearing about elections since I was born. We are eager to take part ...

The Palestinian Authority hopes the symbolic inclusion of Deir al-Balah will reinforce its claim to authority over Gaza. These elections are the first Palestinian elections to be held since the Gaza war started more than two years ago with the cross-border Hamas assault on southern Israeli communities. Municipal elections were last held in the West Bank four years ago.