Palestinians are cautiously moving ahead with preparations for local elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with more at stake than seats on local councils. If the registration process works and the local elections come off without a hitch, the logical result would be national balloting – already more than ten years late – and arguably the best shot at Fatah-Hamas reconciliation necessary in order to move the Palestinians toward unity. Registration centers opened on Saturday and will remain open until Wednesday in preparation for an October election day. As of the end of March, some 1.9 million Palestinians were on the rolls with Gaza registering a larger percentage of the population than the West Bank.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas flew to Doha on Friday for the funeral of his brother who died on Thursday. Both Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog reportedly telephoned Abbas to offer condolences.