Palestinian local elections, 2017

The Palestinian cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, announced on 23 June 2016 a decision to hold municipal elections on 8 October 2016. The elections were suspended by the Palestinian Court in early September and in January 2017 they were set to 13 May 2017. They were expected to be the first elections in all of the Palestinian territories since Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, as Hamas agreed to participate in the local elections and allow them to be held in the Gaza Strip but disagreements between Hamas and Fatah led to Hamas boycotting stating it will participate only after "ending disagreements, achieving reconciliation, and uniting Palestinian institutions, including at the political, judicial, and security levels". The elections were later slated to be held in West Bank in May 2017 and were postponed in Gaza Strip.

According to a statement from the Palestinian Ministers Council, the reason behind the conduct of elections was to "attempt to end national conflict and unite Palestinians in accordance with the law and to pave the road towards holding presidential and legislative elections."

The last Palestinian local elections were held in 2012, excluding the Gaza Strip, where Hamas rules since 2007 and since has boycotted the local elections based in the Fatah controlled Palestinian authority. On 20 July 2016 Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas's political bureau member, said in a speech that Hamas is willing to participate in local elections in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank "no matter the circumstances". Hayya explained the reason behind Hamas’ approval to conduct and participate in the elections, saying, "These elections are local and aimed at serving a cause, so let us put all our efforts and dedication to serve our community and prioritize partnership." Analysts said Hamas decided to participate in the local elections, taking advantage of Fatah's internal crisis.

In a 28 July 2015 interview of Al-Monitor and Kayed al-Ghul, a PFLP's political bureau member, it was revealed that five Palestinian left-wing factions: PFLP, DFLP, FIDA, PPP and PNI have agreed to form a unified list for the first time in history, consisting of figures chosen by the parties. Ghul explained that one of the motives of the left-wing parties to create the list was the need to "break the acute polarization between Fatah and Hamas plaguing the Palestinian society" since 2007. Talal Abu Zarifa, a member of the DFLP’s political bureau said the left-wing parties had contacts with other factions (such as Hamas and Fatah) but denied any alliance with them. In the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, the left-wing parties which at the time ran in separated lists obtained 8% of the votes. Zarifa said the left-wing parties are not building on surpassing their previous goals in 2006, but he thinks there is a positive feeling now when the parties are unified. Talal Okal, a writer and political analyst said he believes the left-wing parties can rise in the elections. In contrast, Saleh Abdel Jawad, a professor of political science at Birzeit University and Hani Habib, a political writer for Al-Ayyam newspaper said they are not expecting a great success for the left-wing, as it constitutes a small portion of the Palestinian society.

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