Palestine Holds Municipal Elections in West Bank, Gaza Abstains

Palestinian Central Elections Commission's office in Gaza (File Photo: Reuters)
Palestinian Central Elections Commission's office in Gaza (File Photo: Reuters)
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Palestine Holds Municipal Elections in West Bank, Gaza Abstains

Palestinian Central Elections Commission's office in Gaza (File Photo: Reuters)
Palestinian Central Elections Commission's office in Gaza (File Photo: Reuters)

Palestinians in the West Bank elected their municipal councils in the second and final phase of the local elections after Hamas refused to hold them in the Gaza Strip, in a move that sparked widespread criticism.

Palestinians elected 50 local bodies in all governorates of the West Bank, including the areas under Israeli control.

Central Elections Commission chief Hanna Nasser said in a press conference that there is a remarkable turnout at the ballot boxes in the West Bank, expressing his regret that the commission was unable to hold elections in the Gaza Strip.

It was the second phase of municipal elections after the first round of voting in December in 154 West Bank villages.

Local elections are held every four years in the West Bank, but since taking control over the Gaza Strip in 2007, Hamas has banned them there.

The last elections were held jointly between the West Bank and Gaza, in 2004 and 2005 over three phases, then the Palestinian Authority (PA) announced three times that it wanted to hold elections in 2010 and 2011 without actually holding them.

Elections were held in 2012 and 2017 without Hamas.

Hamas refused to allow this year's local elections in protest at the indefinite postponement of parliamentary and presidential elections, saying they must be held within the dialogue and national consensus.

Legislative and presidential elections were supposed to occur in May and July, but President Mahmoud Abbas canceled them after Israel prevented them in Jerusalem, after 36 lists were registered, which sparked anger and disputes.

The European Union mission in Palestine welcomed the high turnout in the local elections in the West Bank, saying it is an evidence of the desire of Palestinian people to participate in decision-making.

EU spokesman Shadi Othman expressed his regret that the Palestinians in Gaza were not allowed to vote in this phase of local elections in conjunction with the West Bank, calling for the elections to be held there as soon as possible.

The EU spokesman affirmed the need for Israel to abide by the agreements signed with the Palestinians on allowing Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem to cast their votes, as Israel's refusal last year to allow voting in Jerusalem caused an open-ended postponement of Palestine's overdue legislative and presidential elections which would have been the first in 16 years.

Meanwhile, the deputy chairman of Fatah, Mahmoud al-Aloul, expressed his regret at Hamas' continued obstruction of elections in Gaza.

Member of People's Party politburo Walid al-Awad regretted Hamas' prevention of local elections in Gaza, considering this a negative sign, saying there was hope that all Palestinian governorates would be included in the polls.

Local elections are politically significant because they present an opportunity to prove the factions' strength and dominance among the public, which constitute another influential force in the local electoral battle.

The last completed village and municipal polls were held in the West Bank in 2017-2018 when Fatah won the majority of the seats after Hamas boycotted the elections.

Voter turnout for the second phase of the local elections reached 39 percent, for a total of 278,324, out of the overall number of eligible male and female voters of 715,413, to elect 234 lists running for 50 local councils. These lists include 2,306 candidates; 27 percent are women, all competing for 632 seats.

The votes counting process began Saturday night with more than 2,600 local observers, 300 international observers and guests, and more than 5,300 agents representing the competing lists of candidates.

Official results are expected to be announced Sunday.

Elections were held in 50 localities in the West Bank, including major cities and towns, while in 23 other localities, only one electoral list was nominated, which will win by acclamation.

Meanwhile, in 28 localities, no electoral lists were nominated, and in one particular locality, one electoral list was selected where the number of its candidates was lower than that of its council seats, which means the government will appoint the councils of these localities.



An International Conference Rallies Aid for Sudan After 2 Years of War, but Peace Is Elusive 

A Sudanese evacuee carries her son as they leave the USNS Brunswick at Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia, May 4, 2023. (AP)
A Sudanese evacuee carries her son as they leave the USNS Brunswick at Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia, May 4, 2023. (AP)
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An International Conference Rallies Aid for Sudan After 2 Years of War, but Peace Is Elusive 

A Sudanese evacuee carries her son as they leave the USNS Brunswick at Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia, May 4, 2023. (AP)
A Sudanese evacuee carries her son as they leave the USNS Brunswick at Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia, May 4, 2023. (AP)

Diplomats and aid officials from around the world are meeting Tuesday in London to try to ease the suffering from the two-year-old war in Sudan, a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 14 million and pushed large parts of the country into famine.

The one-day conference, hosted by Britain, France, Germany, the European Union and the African Union, has modest ambitions. It is not an attempt to negotiate peace, but an effort to relieve what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Attendees include officials from Western nations, international institutions and neighboring countries – but no one from Sudan. Neither the Sudanese government nor the rival paramilitary it is fighting has been invited.

“The brutal war in Sudan has devastated the lives of millions – and yet much of the world continues to look away,” said British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who visited Chad’s border with Sudan in January. “We need to act now to stop the crisis from becoming an all-out catastrophe, ensuring aid gets to those who need it the most.”

Sudan plunged into war on April 15, 2023, after simmering tensions between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Fighting broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread across the country, killing at least 20,000 people – though the number is likely far higher.

Over 300 civilians were killed in a burst of intense fighting in the western region of Darfur on Friday and Saturday, according to the UN.

Last month the Sudanese military regained control over Khartoum, a major symbolic victory in the war. But the RSF still controls most of Darfur and some other areas.

The war has driven parts of the country into famine and pushed more than 14 million people from their homes, with more than 3 million fleeing the country, to neighboring countries including Chad and Egypt. Both sides in the war have been accused of committing war crimes.

The World Food Program says nearly 25 million people — half of Sudan’s population — face extreme hunger.

Aid agency Oxfam said the humanitarian catastrophe risks becoming a regional crisis, with fighting spilling into neighboring countries. It said that in South Sudan, itself wracked by recent war, “the arrival of people fleeing Sudan’s conflict has put more pressure on already scarce resources, which is deepening local tensions and threatening the fragile peace.”

The US, which recently cut almost all its foreign aid, is expected to be represented at the London conference.

Ahead of the meeting, Lammy announced 120 million pounds ($158 million) in funding for the coming year to deliver food for 650,000 people in Sudan, from Britain’s increasingly limited foreign aid budget.

In February the UK cut its aid budget from 0.5% of Gross Domestic Product to 0.3% to fund an increase in military spending. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said Sudan, along with Ukraine and Gaza, will remain a priority for British aid.