The Civic Campaign for Monitoring Local Elections—established by the Palestinian NGOs Network with the participation of several civil society organizations - has concluded its monitoring activities for the Deir al-Balah municipal elections, following the close of polling at approximately 18:00 on Saturday, April 25, 2026. Voting had been extended by one hour. The election day had commenced at around 07:00 on the same day across (100) polling stations distributed among (12) polling centers, to serve approximately (70,449) eligible voters.

The campaign deployed (65) observers across polling stations and centers, following their training on proper monitoring procedures, the code of conduct, and Elections Law No. 23 of 2026. They oversaw voting, counting, and vote tabulation processes. The campaign team had prepared a field plan to coordinate monitoring efforts, with observers assigned to stations (1, 2, 3, and 4) in each center, while one coordinator supervised operations within each center. Throughout election day, observers documented legal, procedural, and technical violations accompanying the voting process, recorded their observations, and submitted them to the Central Elections Commission via the designated electronic system for oversight bodies. The Commission received complaints and addressed some of them.

Despite the low turnout in the Deir al-Balah municipal elections - approximately 22.4% of eligible voters - the Civic Campaign for Monitoring Local Elections highly values the participation of those who voted, given the difficult circumstances facing the city of Deir al-Balah, similar to other areas in the Gaza Strip. The campaign will review the collected observations and issue its preliminary report tomorrow, Sunday.

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