Palestinians doubt Israeli elections will bring real change

GAZA, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are watching Israel's ongoing parliamentary elections with skepticism, questioning whether a new government would change anything in their daily lives.

Held on Tuesday, the elections for the 26th Knesset, Israel's parliament, took place against divisions over the future of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

In Gaza, where widespread destruction, displacement and a deepening humanitarian crisis continue to shape daily life, many Palestinians fear that the election outcome will do little to ease their suffering.

Omar Nabhan, 35, a father of two displaced from Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, now lives in a tent west of Gaza City. After more than three years of war, his family's sole concern is securing basic necessities.

"We are living in dire circumstances. We had to leave our homes and were forced to flee, and we have no idea when we might return to normal life," Nabhan told Xinhua.

"Our only concern now is providing food, shelter and safety for our children, without the constant fear of bombardment or being forced to flee again," he said.

Nabhan said he hoped Israel's elections would bring to power leaders willing to improve conditions in Gaza, allow humanitarian aid to enter and facilitate reconstruction. However, he remained doubtful that political change would translate into tangible improvements on the ground.

"For us, the names matter less than the results that could actually change our reality," he said.

Fawzi al-Hajj Ahmed, 50, a displaced father of five in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, said families are struggling to afford food and other necessities as prices rise and the economy worsens.

"People are exhausted by the war, displacement and the long wait. Some have lost their homes, others their livelihoods, and some have lost family members," he told Xinhua. "We do not want political promises. We want to see real change in our lives."

In the West Bank, settlement expansion, settler violence, military raids and movement restrictions have deepened fears over both security and the prospects of a political settlement.

Sulaiman al-Jabari, 38, from Hebron in the southern West Bank, said an Israeli military operation, which began in the city on Friday after two Israeli soldiers were killed, had further disrupted daily life, affecting families, workers and business owners.

"People simply want to live in safety, go to work and attend school without fear or restrictions," al-Jabari told Xinhua.

He doubted that the results of Israel's elections alone would bring any meaningful improvement in Palestinians' living conditions.

"We want military operations and incursions to stop and restrictions that disrupt our lives to be lifted," he said.

Ahed Ferwana, a political analyst specializing in Israeli affairs, told Xinhua the elections would affect Palestinians in both the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

Ferwana said Netanyahu's continued leadership would likely prolong the conflict in Gaza and operations in the West Bank, citing displacement from refugee camps in the north and military operations in Hebron.

If the opposition led by Gadi Eizenkot won, a new government might align more closely with U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan and work to repair Israel's international image, Ferwana said.

However, he did not expect a substantive shift in favor of the Palestinians, predicting that such a government would continue to oppose Palestinian statehood.