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Under Israeli Fire, Palestinians Vote in Local Polls
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Turnout
was said to be high. (Reuters)
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BIR
ZEIT, West Bank, September 29, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News
Agencies) – Thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank
flocked to polling stations Thursday, September 29, to vote in the
final phase of local elections as three Palestinians were killed by
Israeli occupation forces in northern West Bank.
The
voting started at 7:00 am (04:00 GMT) with more than 127,000 eligible
Palestinian voters in more than 100 West Bank municipalities to elect
candidates vying for 1,018 seats in the West Bank and occupied Al-Quds
(East Jerusalem).
Election
monitors said turnout was high in several West Bank villages with
Palestinians rushing to voting centers decorated with posters and
national flags as soon as they opened.
"Turnout
has been very good in the time after the polls opened," head of
the higher commission for local elections (HCLE) Fira Yaghi told
Agence France Presse (AFP).
Unlike
the first phase of the municipal election in May, when candidates ran
individually, Palestinian voters will choose this time among
Palestinian factions' lists.
Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas' mainstream Fatah faces stiff competition from
its main rival the Islamic resistance group Hamas, whose charity
networks, lack of corruption, and tough resistance against the Israeli
occupation have won many Palestinian hearts during five-years intifada.
"Particularly
after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and the run-up to legislative
elections, the municipal results will have important political
implications as they will form the basis of how the factions will
perform," Jamal Al-Shobaki, head of the Higher Commission for
Local Elections, told Reuters.
Opinion
polls suggest Hamas enjoys 30 percent public support, pointing to
significant gains when it takes part in the January 25, 2006,
elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has recently vowed to disrupt Palestinian
legislative elections if Hamas fields candidates.
Israeli
Escalation
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Israel
escalated its attacks in the West Bank. (Reuters)
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Although
local concerns are often the deciding factor for Palestinian municipal
ballots, Thursday's vote takes place in the shadow of the worst
Israeli aggressions since Tel Aviv withdrew troops and settlers from
Gaza on September 12.
Three
Palestinians, including a senior leader of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,
were killed in the West Bank city of Jenin when Israeli forces staged
an incursion into the area, AFP said.
Palestinian
security and medical sources said Samer Al-Saadi, leader of Al-Aqsa
Brigades in Jenin, was shot dead during clashes with Israeli forces
after troops pushed into the northern city.
Two
other Palestinians, both from Islamic Jihad, were also killed in a
firefight, which broke out after Israeli troops surrounded a house in
the nearby town of Birqin, just west of Jenin.
Security
sources named one of the Jihad members as Nidal Khlouf, while the
second was Samer Al-Chalabi.
An
Israeli army spokesman confirmed that three Palestinians had been
killed "during exchanges of fire" during a mass arrest
operation that was launched last weekend.
The
Israeli forces also arrested twelve Palestinians overnight, bringing
the total to 427 including a number of candidates for Thursday's
municipal elections.
The
three deaths come as the Israeli army stepped up aggressions against
the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and raised the overall
number of people killed since the start of the Palestinian uprising
exactly five years ago, to 4,837, according to an AFP count.
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