Rami Ayyub, Ali Sawafta

RAMALLAH (West Bank) – Palestinians held municipal elections on Saturday in Israel-occupied West Bank amid growing anger at President Mahmoud Abdulbas for cancelling planned presidential and legislative votes.

In the West Bank where Abbas’ Palestinian Authority enjoys limited autonomy, more than 400,000 Palestinians had the opportunity to vote in representatives for the 154 village councils. Municipal votes usually take place every four- or five years.

Gaza is not hosting municipal elections because Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza are refusing to vote due to an rift with Abbas’ Fatah. President Abbas, 86, postponed voting in several West Bank cities such as Ramallah to give a chance for voters to express their disapproval.

Ahmad Issa 23, a 23-year-old man standing outside Bir Nabala village’s polling station on the West Bank, said, “These elections can not be an alternative for legislative elections.” He added that a legislative ballot could provide “a horizon to the youth” and help to implement reforms.

Beit Kahil was a village where women and men stood in line outside the polling station. Many were covered with facemasks for COVID-19 protection. They placed their voting papers into envelopes, and then dropped them in ballot boxes. This was done to stop people from voting twice.

Abbas, whose support has sagged in opinion polls, drew widespread anger in April when he cancelled https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-politics-election-idUSKBN189066 legislative and presidential elections scheduled for the summer, citing Israeli curbs on Palestinian voting in East Jerusalem.

Hamas was among Abbas’ rivals who accused him of using Jerusalem’s voting dispute to hide elections that polls had shown he and the party would lose. Abbas who has been ruling by decree over a decade denies it.

Hamas’s spokesperson said that the group had boycotted municipal elections held in 2012 and 2017. He also stated that Hamas “refused to take part in elections tailored to Fatah and conducted by Palestinian Authority,” and urged Abbas to cancel the summer vote.

Hamas is enjoying a rise in popularity in East Jerusalem, West Bank since May when it fought an eleven-day war against Israel. This year, the group was elected to student council at several West Bank universities. It is a good indicator of their support.

Palestinians want statehood in West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. These territories were captured by Israel in 1967. In a move that was not recognized internationally, Israel annexed East Jerusalem and peace negotiations between them broke down in 2014.

Hamas won 2006’s last Palestinian legislative election. The groundwork for political discord was laid by that victory. Hamas captured Gaza following a civil war between Fatah and Hamas in 2007, and has been ruling the coastal enclave since then.