Palestinians elect West Bank councils

President Mahmud Abbas votes in the local elections in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank yesterday. (AFP)

Voters cast ballots yesterday for municipal councils in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in a rare democratic exercise following a decade and a half of delays to Palestinian elections. There was no immediate figure for overall turnout after polls closed at 7pm. But three hours earlier, the Central Elections Commission said just 39% of eligible voters had cast their ballots. It was the second phase of municipal elections after a first round of voting in December in 154 West Bank villages. Yesterday’s vote was held in 50 towns and cities, with many elections uncontested, or without any candidates in some cases. Wasfi Ramhi, voting in the city of Al-Bireh, said he hoped it would lead to national elections. “If they are democratic, fair and free, they will help us to hold legislative and presidential elections,” he told AFP. As he cast his vote in Al-Bireh, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas defended his decision to call off scheduled presidential and legislative elections last year, saying they had to be held in “all the Palestinian territories”. Israel had barred voting from taking place in annexed east Jerusalem. No legislative or presidential elections have been held in the Palestinian territories for 15 years, following repeated delays. The last municipal elections, held in 2017, were boycotted by Hamas, the Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip. Hamas is also boycotting this year’s election in protest at the indefinite postponement of parliamentary and presidential elections. No elections are being held in Gaza or in east Jerusalem. In the Jordan Valley city of Jericho, independents dominated the candidate lists, with established parties officially staying away, a dynamic mirrored across the West Bank. “Usually there are just one or two lists running — and they belong to the parties. This time there are five lists, many of them independents,” said Emad Barahmeh, a businessman who heads one of the independent lists running in Jericho. Today, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority has control over parts of the occupied West Bank, while the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip is under an Israeli blockade.