Gaza votes after 20 years

Pic/PTI

Palestinians in central Gaza and the occupied West Bank are voting in municipal elections, the first local vote held since the start of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.

Polling stations opened at 7 am on Saturday for 70,000 eligible voters in Gaza's Deir el-Balah area - the first electoral exercise in the besieged enclave in 20 years.

The vote in a single city in Gaza is largely symbolic, with officials calling it a "pilot". Deir el-Balah was selected because it is one of the few areas in Gaza not destroyed by Israeli forces.

Nearly one million registered voters in the occupied West Bank are also voting to determine the makeup of the local councils overseeing water, roads and electricity. The vote is seen as perfunctory, as official policy decisions in occupied areas are not made without Israeli approval.

The elections come amid a tightly restricted political landscape and deep public disillusionment, as the Palestinian Authority (PA) seeks to project reform and legitimacy amid growing public frustration over corruption, political stagnation and the absence of national elections since 2006.

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