Residents of Gaza’s Deir al-Balah went to the polls on Saturday in the territory’s first municipal elections in more than two decades, hoping to restore local rule while still grappling with Israel’s devastating war.
The central city was chosen as a test site for the revival of the democratic process because it suffered less structural damage than other areas in the besieged region. Still, the scars of Israel’s genocidal war there remain severe.
In December 2024, Israeli forces bombed the Deir al-Balah municipality building, killing then-mayor Diab al-Jarrou and 10 staff members as they worked to provide essential services for displaced Palestinians. The deadly attack was carried out despite the Israeli military declaring the city a “safe zone”.
Today, the Palestinian Central Election Commission (CEC) – the independent body responsible for the administration of elections in the Palestinian territories – considers the vote an important milestone.
Jamil al-Khalidi, regional director of the CEC, told Al Jazeera that the April 25 election will be part of a broader process involving 420 local councils in the occupied West Bank, including Deir al-Balah, the only participating municipality in Gaza.
It marks a significant departure from the policy of administrative appointments that has ruled the Strip under Hamas leadership for the past 21 years.
About 70,000 eligible voters over the age of 18 can cast their ballot between 7am and 5pm (04:00-14:00 GMT). To ensure a smooth process, CEC has launched a toll-free hotline for residents to verify their registration status. Voting will take place at 12 electoral centers in locations such as local stadiums, women’s activity centers and former clinics. Each center will be equipped with eight polling stations.
Voters will choose from a list of candidates.
“The electoral system relies on closed lists,” Al-Khalidi explained. Each list must include at least 15 candidates, of which at least four will be women. Voters will first choose from one of four lists, then they will cast preference votes for five specific candidates within that list.
The 15 candidates with the most support will form the new local council, while ensuring that female representation is maintained.
Formal political parties like Hamas or Fatah are not running under their official banners in this election. Instead, candidates are grouped largely on the basis of tribal or professional alliances.
Clean water, no politics
Four nominally independent lists of candidates are competing for council seats: Peace and Construction, Deir al-Balah Brings Us Together, Deir al-Balah’s Future and Deir al-Balah’s Renaissance.
In interviews with Al Jazeera, Mohammed Abu Nasser – head of the Peace and Construction list – and Faten Harb – candidate for the renaissance of Deir al-Balah – have been keen to emphasize that their platforms are entirely service-oriented, focused on transparency, and operate “away from partisanship”.
Debate continues about the underlying affiliations of the candidates in the deeply divided political landscape in Gaza. Ultimately, however, for many war-weary residents, a return to the ballot box is meaningless unless it brings real-world improvements for Palestinians.
“Citizens today are not looking for slogans, but real solutions,” resident Rabha al-Bhaisi told Al Jazeera. He pointed to the dire need for basic services like clean water, electricity and sewage management.
Another resident, Ali Rayyan, told Al Jazeera that holding elections “will not be enough if it does not meet minimum life demands and does not bring concrete change on the ground”.
Aware of this intense public scrutiny, candidates are trying to distance themselves from partisanship.
Abu Nasser, head of the Peace and Construction List, said the current recovery phase requires practical, innovative solutions with a strong reliance on young people. Deir al-Balah’s renaissance candidate Faten Harb has stressed that his group is running on a strictly national and service-oriented platform aimed at increasing transparency.
Salem Abu Hassanein, media director of the Future of Deir al-Balah list, told Al Jazeera that the success of this democratic experiment should be prioritized. “The real stake is on creating a council capable of serving the people, away from narrow political calculations,” he said.
A ‘desperate attempt’ at legality
Beyond the immediate need for public services, this election is also associated with intense international discussions about the “day after” in Gaza and the broader crisis of the Palestinian regime.
But analysts cautioned against viewing this isolated vote as a true measure of political popularity for groups like Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.
Wessam Afeefa, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera that the grim realities of war make it impossible to estimate the true political weight.
Afifah said, “Neither Hamas nor any other faction, including Fatah, sees this election as an opportunity to prove its legitimacy or measure its popularity. The circumstances are very extraordinary.” “Even Hamas has not explicitly announced that it will compete, instead trying to monitor from a distance or participate symbolically.”
Instead, Afifah said, the heavy reliance on “independent” lists indicates that Palestinian society is reverting to traditional family networks rather than a genuine shift towards international demands for “technocratic” rule, which are largely driving these lists.
Afifa said any newly elected council would also have to figure out how it interacts with the “technical committee” of United States President Donald Trump’s peace board, led by Nikolay Mladenov, who is expected to manage Gaza.
Analysts say that in this regard the vote for the Palestinian Authority (PA) holds special importance. By holding simultaneous elections in the occupied West Bank – where Israel is carrying out land seizures, illegal settlement expansion and strengthening military rule – the Ramallah-based PA is attempting to emphasize its relevance.
“The PA is fighting for its survival and its symbolism,” Afifah said, noting that the authority has so far been largely insulated from international discussion, with respect to a post-war, internationally-backed “technical committee” to run Gaza.
If such a model is successful in Gaza, Afifa warned, it could also be proposed for the occupied West Bank, further threatening the PA’s legitimacy.
“This election is a desperate attempt by the PA to express itself, its legitimacy and its existence to the international community.”
Ultimately, observers such as Bassam al-Far, representative of the Arab Liberation Front, note that while factions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank broadly agree on the need to hold a vote, the real challenge will be whether an elected body can function effectively amid the harsh living conditions, closed border crossings and ongoing political divisions that have fragmented Palestinian life.
For now, Deir al-Balah stands at a crossroads: Saturday’s vote will either serve as the beginning of a gradual return to democracy, or remain an isolated, highly symbolic experiment that is too complicated by reality to fix with ballot boxes alone.
