A festive mood has gripped the West Bank as the Palestinian Authority holds local elections. Most competing lists are affiliated with Fatah or run as independent candidates.

A festive and cheerful mood has taken hold of the West Bank as the Palestinian Authority holds local elections, FRANCE 24's Noga Tarnopolsky said, reporting from Bethlehem. Most electoral lists are aligned with president Mahmud Abbas's secular-nationalist Fatah party or running as independents. There are no lists affiliated with Fatah's archrival Hamas, which controls nearly half of the Gaza Strip.