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Al-Manara Square in Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority sits (illustrative image). Flickr / Bilal Randeree

As Israel prepares to vote for the legislative elections, on the other side of the separation wall, officially, Palestinians say they are not paying attention to these elections. But this is not the case for young people in a territory where 50% of the population is under 50 years old.

Alaa sips her cappuccino on the terrace of a Ramallah café following the latest developments in the election campaign that is taking place on the other side of the separation wall.

" I have an eye on the Israeli news," says the young man, " on what is happening between Netanyahu and Gantz, but also on the side of Israeli Arabs and what they think of the elections. It's something I have never experienced, so I'm all that . "

Due to the fratricidal war between Fatah and Hamas , the Palestinians have not gone to the polls since 2006. An eternity, according to Alaa who is the spokesperson for a youth lacking democratic experience.

" They must give us our chance "

" We were children when Mahmoud Abbas was elected and our leaders must leave. They are old ! Our president is 84 years old and he is supposed to represent me, I'm 28 years old, he questions. They must give us a chance to change, do something new and change this Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "

Salam, 25, would also like to participate in Palestinian elections. But it does not necessarily envy the Israelis. " Yes, they will vote, but they too have a corrupt government. It may be a democratic process, in quotation marks, it remains a super-radical and radical regime . The young man is on his way to Europe and is preparing to join the cohort of young Palestinian exiles.