Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are closely watching Israel's parliamentary election, believing that the result will affect their situation, whether positively or negatively.
Israelis are voting on Tuesday to elect the 26th Knesset, the country's parliament, with about 7.3 million eligible voters.
It is Israel's first election since the Hamas-led attack on Oct 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel and triggered a devastating Israeli offensive in Gaza, followed by a wider regional escalation involving Lebanon and Iran.
Despite the fact that the Israeli election is an internal Israeli issue, the outcome of this election would directly affect the situation in the Gaza Strip, where more than two million Palestinians have been enduring years of war, destruction, and lack of, or shortage of, humanitarian aid supplies at many levels. The voting began at 07:00 local time (0500 GMT) on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political future in focus.
The latest pre-election polls published by Israeli media showed the centrist Yashar Party, led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, and Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party ranking among the leading parties.
In Gaza, some people undergoing the hardships of displacements are seeing a glimmer of hope in the prospect of a change in Israeli leadership.
"I expect the future would be better under a left-wing party than under the far-right leadership of Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. We have experienced their policies over the past years, and what happened in Gaza is evidence of their extremism," said Faraj Abu Shaawish, a displaced Palestinian.
As Israeli politicians now compete in this election, some of them call for the relocation of the Palestinians. This raises high concern among the population about further displacement, and further forced displacement from their homes and localities, as many have already experienced displacement for multiple times.
"We hope these policies will change, whether Netanyahu wins or even Gadi Eisenkot. We hope this will have a positive impact on the people of Gaza. We have been living in tents for three years. We pray for mercy and for these policies to change," said Hassan Al-samri, a displaced Palestinian man.
"Ever since we heard about the elections, we have been afraid of being displaced and forced out. We have suffered so much, and now we fear the war could return. I don't know what will happen, but everyone is afraid of the days ahead," said displaced Palestinan woman Rania Al-saudi.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party has dominated Israeli politics for much of the past two decades and draws support largely from conservative and nationalist voters.
Likud heads a bloc of far-right and religious parties, including Otzma Yehudit (Hebrew for "Jewish Power"), led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir; Religious Zionism, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism.
The main opposition parties include Yashar (Hebrew for "straight" or "honest"), headed by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, and Together, an alliance of former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid that brings together right-wing and centrist voters opposed to Netanyahu.
The Democrats, led by Yair Golan, advocates civil liberties and a two-state solution, while Avigdor Lieberman's right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu (Hebrew for "Israel Our Home") party traditionally draws support from Russian-speaking Israelis, who account for approximately 15 percent of Israel's population.
Two predominantly Arab lists are also running: the Joint List, comprising Hadash, Ta'al and Balad, which advocates Palestinian citizens' rights and an end to Israel's occupation; and Ra'am, an Arab-majority party that focuses on improving conditions in Arab communities and has previously joined a governing coalition.
Smaller parties near the electoral threshold could also prove decisive, as votes for lists that fail to cross it are excluded from seat allocation.
Palestinians closely watch Israeli election
Palestinians closely watch Israeli election
