HIBAPRESS – Agencies
Palestinians in the West Bank and central Gaza Strip began casting their votes on Saturday to elect municipal councils, in the first ballot since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, held amid limited competition and a state of public frustration.
According to the Central Elections Commission in Ramallah, about 1.5 million voters in the occupied West Bank are eligible to cast their votes, in addition to 70,000 voters in the Deir al-Balah area in the central Gaza Strip. The polling stations opened at seven in the morning (04:00 GMT). Most of the electoral lists belong either to the Fatah movement, which is headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, or to independents, while there are no lists linked to the “Hamas” movement.
