Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah movement was on track to lead municipal councils in several major cities in the occupied West Bank, official election results showed Sunday, with about 95 percent of ballots counted.
On Saturday, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah area voted for municipal councils in the first elections since the Gaza war began.
Fatah’s official electoral list, dubbed “Steadfastness & Giving”, was ahead in Hebron, the West Bank’s largest city, as well as in Tulkarem and Salfit, according to the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC).
Speaking at a press conference announcing the results, Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa described the vote as “an expression of the national will of the Palestinian people”.
He also welcomed the inclusion of Deir el-Balah in the local elections, calling it “a first step toward a more inclusive national framework… until we reach unity in all of Palestine”.