Skip to content

Palestinian Local Elections Spark Fresh Rifts Between Long-Standing Rivals Hamas and Fatah

Palestinian supporters of Fatah rally in support of president Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, on July 10, 2021. (Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)

Fresh rifts were reignited on Dec. 11 between聽long-standing rivals Hamas and Fatah during the first round of the聽Palestinian local elections.

elections, which include聽municipal councils and local government bodies,聽are typically held every four or five years and last took place in 2017.

Sunday’s elections were held in the聽Israeli-occupied West Bank as opposed to the聽Gaza Strip, where Hamas refused to hold them following a聽fallout with聽Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party.

group stated in September that it “would not be part of … fragmented municipal elections” after Abbas cancelled the parliamentary and presidential elections in the Palestinian territories earlier this year.

Instead, the terrorist organization on Sunday opted to聽appoint members of local and municipal councils from a selection of its supporters or those who, like itself, were angry at the聽Fatah party.

move sparked a fresh rift between the Islamist group and the聽Palestinian nationalist social-democratic political party, with the latter accusing Hamas of violating the rights of citizens to practice fair聽democracy.

Sunday鈥檚 elections took place at 154 localities in the West Bank, with 66.14 percent of the 405,687 eligible voters casting their ballots, the聽Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC) Chairman Dr. Hanna Nasir said.

In total, 268,318 people took to the polls; 96.5 percent of their ballots were valid, 1.01 percent were blank, and 2.43 were invalid.聽 results demonstrated that independent lists had won 70.86 percent of the 1,503 council seats, while party lists had won 29.14 percent of the seats, as per the commission.

CEC said that聽positions at 162 local bodies were filled by “acclamation”聽because there was only one list contesting the elections.

Palestinian Minister of Local Government Majdi Al-Saleh accused Hamas of taking “illegal steps” to prevent local elections in the Gaza Strip, which has been under the control of the terrorist group since 2007,聽and said it was the “main obstacle” facing the elections in Gaza.

“Hamas is blocking elections in the Gaza Strip,” Al-Saleh told Ahram Online. “It appoints the chairmen of local and municipal councils illegally and under false pretenses.”

“By blocking elections in the Gaza Strip, Hamas is breaking the law and violating the rights of citizens to practice democracy,” Al-Saleh said, adding that聽the Palestinian government had sent mediators to convince Hamas to hold the elections, but they had failed.

Ahmed Al-Majdalani, a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization鈥檚 (PLO’s) Executive Committee and secretary-general of the Popular Struggle Front (PSF), called聽municipal elections a “part of the democratic process” that are also a “right of citizens of all political stripes, irrespective of political affiliations.”

Al-Majdalani added that it was “unacceptable” for elections to continue being delayed in Gaza when Hamas is聽“participating in elections in the West Bank in different ways.”

However, Hamas, which is聽considered a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, said it had not agreed to the elections being held in Gaza because they聽should be part of a comprehensive electoral process, which includes聽municipal councils, local governments, as well as the previously suspended Palestinian parliament, and presidential elections, according to聽Ahram Online.

group wants to be viewed as legitimate by the international community through winning elections and joining the PLO, which is聽recognized by both Israel and the international community.

second phase of Palestine’s local elections will take place on March 26, 2022, at 66 localities, according to officials.

Pezou : Palestinian Local Elections Spark Fresh Rifts Between Long-Standing Rivals Hamas and Fatah