Palestinians in the West Bank and central Gaza voted on Saturday in municipal elections, the first since the Gaza war erupted, marked by low turnout and a narrow slate of contenders.

Nearly 1.5 million people were registered to vote in the West Bank, as well as 70,000 people in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah area, according to the Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission (CEC).

“We are very pleased to exercise democracy in spite of the many challenges we face, both locally and internationally,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told journalists after voting in Al-Bireh, according to the official Wafa news agency.

Early Saturday, a steady trickle of voters headed to polling stations in the West Bank, as foreign diplomats observed the process.

By 5 p.m., turnout in the West Bank reached 40.62 percent, the CEC said. But participation in Deir al-Balah was significantly lower, at just 21.2 percent, by the time polls closed there at 6 pm.

In the previous municipal elections in March 2022, turnout was 53.7 percent in West Bank cities. Voting in the West Bank ended at 7 pm, with a notable late surge of women voters in Jericho, an AFP journalist said.

“We will elect someone who can improve the local community… things like water and repairing the streets,” said Manar Salman, an English teacher in the city. “We don’t receive much support from outside, and the occupation affects us in many ways… it limits what the municipality can do.”

Some questioned the election’s timing.

“We didn’t want elections at this time — not with war in Gaza and settler attacks........

© The Times of Israel