Palestinian election officials announced that President Mahmoud Abbas’s loyal political faction achieved a major victory in the recent municipal elections, which for the first time in nearly two decades included a city in Gaza. Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said the polls were held during an extremely sensitive and complex period. This was the first election in Gaza since 2006 and the first Palestinian vote since the Israel-Palestine conflict reignited in October 2023.

The Palestinian Authority described the vote in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, as a pilot election, reaffirming Gaza as an integral part of a future Palestinian state. Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, did not field candidates and boycotted the West Bank vote. Preliminary results showed Abbas’s Fatah-backed list winning six of fifteen seats in Deir al-Balah, while Hamas-linked candidates won two. Independent and local groups took the remaining seats.

Voter turnout reached 23 percent in Gaza and 56 percent in the West Bank. Analysts attributed low Gaza turnout to ongoing war, displacement, and humanitarian crisis. Despite Israeli restrictions on election materials, the vote was viewed as a symbolic step toward Palestine’s political future.