\n<\/p>\n
Fatah said it won most local councils, including Jenin, where the Palestinian Authority was previously accused of losing control to Hamas-linked Palestinian Islamic Jihad.<\/p>\n
Fatah<\/a> claimed to have achieved a \u201csweeping victory\u201d in the 2026 council elections, Palestinian Authority-run WAFA News Agency reported on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n Fatah announced it won in the majority of local councils, including in Jenin, a northern West Bank<\/a> city where the Palestinian Authority<\/a> was previously accused of losing control to the Hamas-allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization. It also claimed to have formed 197 municipal and village councils by consensus in coordination with national factions.<\/p>\n The Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission (CEC) published that voter turnout was around 53.44%.<\/p>\n For the first time since 2006, Palestinians were also able to vote in Deir al-Balah<\/a> in the Gaza Strip, though the CEC noted that only 70,000 were eligible to vote there and that turnout was only 22.7%.<\/p>\n While the Palestinian Authority celebrated the elections as fulfilling PA President Mahmoud Abbas\u2019s promise to make 2026 the \u201cyear of Palestinian democracy,\u201d experts, activists, and international media outlets pointed to numerous failings in the electoral process.<\/p>\n