Palestinians vote after Gaza invasion

Nearly 1.5m people are registered to cast ballot in West Bank

GAZA:

Palestinians in the West Bank and a central area of Gaza began voting on Saturday in municipal elections in the first vote since Israel's deadly invasion of Gaza, marked by a narrow political field and widespread disillusionment.

Nearly 1.5 million people are registered to vote in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as well as 70,000 people in Gaza's Deir el-Balah area, according to the Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission.

Polling stations opened at 7am (9am PKT).

AFP footage from Al-Bireh in the West Bank and Deir el-Balah in Gaza showed election officials in polling stations as Palestinians came to cast ballots.

Most electoral lists are aligned with President Mahmoud Abbas's secular-nationalist Fatah party or feature candidates running as independents.

There are no lists affiliated with Fatah's archrival Hamas, which controls nearly half of the Gaza Strip.

In most cities, Fatah-backed tickets will run against independent lists headed by candidates from factions such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (Marxist-Leninist).

"We must see change every four years through elections… We can't change the situation but we hope to replace people… people who might be better and help develop the community," said Khalid Eid, 55, after he voted in Al-Bireah.