The Fatah movement, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said that it, along with its partners, won the municipal council elections in the West Bank.

Yesterday, Saturday, the movement announced in a statement carried by the Palestinian News Agency (Wafa) that "its lists - individually and with their partners from the national and social forces - achieved a landslide victory in the elections of the second round of the local council elections."

She added that "the success of the electoral process is a national achievement, an embodiment of sovereignty over Palestinian land, and an important step in achieving independence within the framework of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital."

The movement expressed its "deep regret at the decision of Hamas to prevent the holding of elections in the Gaza Strip," as it put it.

For his part, a member of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement, Hussein al-Sheikh, said - in a tweet on Twitter - that the preliminary results indicate that the movement has won most of the municipal councils in the West Bank.

Mahmoud Al-Aloul, the deputy head of the Fatah movement, said - in a statement to the official Palestine TV - that his movement achieved "a great and wonderful victory... here in Nablus and dozens of areas across the country."

The second phase of the municipal elections took place in the West Bank yesterday, Saturday, in 50 cities and villages, out of 127 gatherings in which the polls were supposed to take place, but most of the gatherings in which only one list submitted to win by acclamation, while no nomination of any list was registered in 29 locations, according to What was announced by the Central Elections Committee, in an indication of the state of popular frustration with the institutions.

The second phase of the elections included major cities in the West Bank (Reuters)

The final turnout was 52.8%, according to the Central Elections Committee.

The head of the committee, Hanna Nasser, said that the results of the elections will be announced at noon on Sunday.

The second phase of the elections included the major cities in the West Bank: Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Hebron, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Jericho, Bethlehem, Tubas and Salfit.

The first phase took place on December 11, and was limited to small towns and villages.

These are the fourth municipal elections since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1995, while presidential and legislative elections have not been held for nearly 16 years.

Hamas boycotted these elections, which have not been held in the Gaza Strip, which the movement has ruled since 2007.

Hamas had announced its refusal to participate in the local elections, and demanded the holding of comprehensive elections that include the presidential, legislative and National Council, accusing President Mahmoud Abbas of obstructing their holding.

According to a presidential decree, comprehensive Palestinian elections were scheduled to take place in 3 stages during 2021: legislative on May 22, presidential on July 31, and National Council elections on August 31.

But the Palestinian president decided at the end of April 2021 to postpone the elections, which sparked a wave of criticism from Palestinian institutions and factions.

Abbas justified his decision by Israel's refusal to participate in the elections of the Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem.