Gaza voters want jobs and security as Palestinian elections approach

Ahead of first Palestinian national elections in 20 years, people in Gaza hope to rebuild after Israeli destruction.

The Palestinian Central Elections Commission is preparing for national legislative elections in November [Lina Ghassan Abu Zayed/Al Jazeera]

Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip – Ahmad Mohsen, 24, sits in a shop selling prepaid internet access cards in Deir el-Balah. Three years ago, before Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza started, he imagined a different future. He had graduated with a degree in nursing and was preparing to complete the procedures required to obtain his professional licence. He dreamed of working in a hospital, pursuing a master’s degree or taking specialised courses.

But the war pushed him onto a different path.

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During the first months of the war, Mohsen worked as a volunteer at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, amid large numbers of wounded and dead, before the lack of pay led him to look for other work.

“I got tired, and I wasn’t being paid for my efforts, so I started looking for another job that would give me at least a small income,” he said.

The upcoming Palestinian legislative elections , scheduled for November 28, would be Mohsen’s first national vote, and the first Palestinian legislative election since 2006. Mohsen has his priorities: he wants candidates to address problems facing his generation, including unemployment , security, housing, education and healthcare.

“The first thing I want is to be able to find a stable job with a decent salary so I can support myself and my family, and the second thing is to have security,” he said.

Mohsen’s concerns are common among Palestinians in Gaza, where unemployment sits at about 80 percent. The enclave’s economy has been destroyed following years of Israeli blockade and its war that has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians.

His family owns land east of Gaza’s Salah al-Din Street, in an area Israel restricts access to , leaving him unable to reach it. He hopes that, in accordance with the October 2025 ceasefire agreement, Israel will soon withdraw from the area and allow for reconstruction to begin in the devastated territory.

For Mohsen, elections are not enough if they do not translate into improvements in people’s lives.

“A candidate should put themselves in the people’s place and speak with the people’s voice, not someone else’s voice. They should speak for us, the young people who have been wronged for 20 years through wars and destruction. There needs to be an end to this,” he said.

Ahmad Mohsen hopes that the Palestinian legislative elections will bring about some material improvement to his life [Lina Ghassan Abu Zayed/Al Jazeera]

Unlike Mohsen, Ghassan Marwan, 53, carries memories of the 2006 elections, which were won by Hamas.

Marwan previously worked as a goldsmith and established a factory that became his family’s source of income.

When he went to the polls in 2006, he hoped the elections would help improve people’s lives, provide security and jobs, and give his children a more stable future. He remembers voting at a school in Nuseirat for a list headed by the independent politician Mustafa Barghouti, and says the experience was transparent and fair.

“I witnessed a great deal of transparency and integrity. It was like a democratic celebration. But unfortunately, that experience was not repeated over the past 20 years,” Marwan said.

Twenty years later, his life has completely changed. He lost his home and his factory in January 2024, during the war. More than 30 years of work can no longer guarantee the stability he had sought for his family.

“After losing your home and your source of income, what else do you want? All you hope for is reconstruction, calm and security in the country,” he said.

What hurts Marwan most, he said, is seeing his children living among tents instead of in the stable home he had hoped to provide. The war has also brought him back to tasks he never imagined he would face after years of work, such as searching for water and carrying it over long distances.

“After all these years, I am carrying water from far away. Am I going to remain in this situation? I am 53 today. In 10 years, I will be in my 60s, and I will not be able to carry this burden,” he said.

Marwan believes these circumstances have also affected people’s interest in politics.

“Our interest in politics has declined, not because it does not concern us, but because of all the frustration and despair that have accumulated. People have become preoccupied with how to get by and secure their daily bread,” he added.

The prospect of elections amid the widespread destruction and displacement around him nevertheless leaves him torn between hope and scepticism.

“Sometimes I feel that talking about elections is almost a joke, because there are no clear conditions for holding them,” he said.

Recovery is priority

The Palestinian Central Elections Commission is preparing to hold the vote in the occupied West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and Gaza. It estimates that about 1.24 million Palestinians in Gaza will be eligible to vote.

According to Jamil al-Khalidi, the commission’s regional director in Gaza, the process faces logistical and security challenges because of the scale of destruction in the territory and the mass displacement that has occurred since Israel’s war started. The commission has prepared contingency plans to produce election materials locally in case Israel restricts the entry of supplies into Gaza.

For Gaza-based political analyst and writer Iyad al-Qarra, the war has not eliminated Palestinians’ interest in politics, but has instead changed what they expect politics to deliver.

After nearly three years of displacement, destruction and lost livelihoods, he argued that political demands from Palestinians in Gaza have become directly linked to the ability of future leaders to restore a normal life, rather than simply administer institutions or offer political slogans.

Al-Qarra says that the priority is a leadership capable of representing people and meeting their basic needs, foremost among them rebuilding Gaza, restoring infrastructure and the health and education sectors, and creating conditions that allow people to regain their lives and livelihoods.

“There is a widespread desire for leadership that puts Gaza’s recovery at the top of its priorities, given the heavy price the Strip has paid,” al-Qarra said.

在巴勒斯坦20年来首次举行全国选举之际，加沙人民希望在以色列的破坏之后重建家园。

巴勒斯坦中央选举委员会正在为11月举行的全国立法选举做准备。[Lina Ghassan Abu Zayed/半岛电视台]

加沙地带代尔巴拉赫——24岁的艾哈迈德·穆赫辛坐在代尔巴拉赫一家出售预付费上网卡的商店里。三年前，在以色列对加沙发动种族灭绝战争之前，他曾憧憬着截然不同的未来。他已经获得了护理学学位，正准备完成取得执业资格所需的各项手续。他梦想着在医院工作，攻读硕士学位或参加一些专业课程。

但战争让他走上了另一条道路。

问题 1（共 3 题）：约旦如何应对以色列在西岸的升级行动？

名单2/3：一名联合国粮农组织官员称，他因批评以色列在加沙的政策而丢了工作。

以色列无人机在加沙杀害巴勒斯坦人，定居者在西岸杀害另一名巴勒斯坦人（共3条记录中的第3条）

战争初期，莫森在代尔巴拉赫的阿克萨烈士医院做志愿者，那里伤亡惨重，后来由于没有报酬，他便另谋出路。

“我感到疲惫，而且我的付出没有得到报酬，所以我开始寻找另一份至少能给我带来一点收入的工作，”他说。

即将于11月28日举行的巴勒斯坦立法选举将是莫森首次参加全国性投票，也是自2006年以来巴勒斯坦首次举行立法选举。莫森有自己的优先事项：他希望候选人能够解决他这一代人面临的问题，包括失业、安全、住房、教育和医疗保健。

他说：“我首先想要的是找到一份稳定的工作，一份薪水体面的工作，这样我就可以养活自己和家人；其次是拥有安全感。”

莫森的担忧在加沙的巴勒斯坦人中很普遍，那里的失业率高达80%左右。多年来，以色列的封锁和战争摧毁了加沙的经济，这场战争已造成超过7.4万名巴勒斯坦人丧生。

他的家族在加沙萨拉赫丁大街以东拥有一块土地，但以色列限制了该区域的通行，导致他无法到达那里。他希望，根据2025年10月达成的停火协议，以色列能够尽快从该地区撤军，使这片饱受战火蹂躏的土地能够开始重建。

莫森认为，如果选举不能转化为人民生活的改善，那么选举就毫无意义。

“候选人应该设身处地为人民着想，用人民的声音说话，而不是用别人的声音。他们应该为我们这些在过去20年里饱受战争和破坏之苦的年轻人发声。这一切必须结束，”他说。

艾哈迈德·穆赫辛希望巴勒斯坦立法选举能给他的生活带来一些实质性的改善。[莉娜·加桑·阿布·扎耶德/半岛电视台]

与莫森不同，53 岁的加桑·马尔万对 2006 年哈马斯赢得的选举记忆犹新。

马尔万以前是一名金匠，他创办了一家工厂，成为他家的收入来源。

2006年他去投票时，希望选举能够改善人民的生活，带来安全保障和就业机会，并为他的孩子们创造一个更加稳定的未来。他记得当时在努塞拉特的一所学校投票，支持的是由独立政治家穆斯塔法·巴尔古提领导的候选人名单。他说，整个投票过程公开透明，公平公正。

“我亲眼见证了高度的透明度和诚信。那就像一场民主的庆典。但不幸的是，在过去的20年里，这样的经历并没有重现，”马尔万说道。

二十年后，他的生活发生了翻天覆地的变化。2024年1月，战争爆发，他失去了家园和工厂。三十多年的辛勤工作，再也无法保障他曾为家人寻求的稳定生活。

他说：“失去家园和收入来源后，你还想要什么？你只希望国家能够重建，恢复平静与安全。”

马尔万说，最让他痛心的是看到孩子们住在帐篷里，而不是他曾希望为他们提供的稳定的家。战争也让他不得不重新面对他多年工作后从未想过会遇到的困境，例如寻找水源并长途跋涉地运水。

“这么多年过去了，我一直从很远的地方挑水。难道我要一直这样下去吗？我今天53岁了。10年后，我就60多岁了，我肯定扛不起这个重担了。”他说道。

马尔万认为，这些情况也影响了人们对政治的兴趣。

“我们对政治的兴趣下降了，不是因为政治与我们无关，而是因为积压了太多的挫败感和绝望情绪。人们现在满脑子想的都是如何生存下去，如何保障每日的温饱，”他补充道。

尽管周围到处都是破坏和流离失所的景象，但选举的前景仍然让他既充满希望又心存怀疑。

“有时候我觉得谈论选举简直像个笑话，因为举行选举还没有明确的条件，”他说。

恢复是首要任务。

巴勒斯坦中央选举委员会正准备在被占领的西岸、被占领的东耶路撒冷和加沙地带举行投票。据估计，加沙地带约有124万巴勒斯坦人将有资格投票。

据选举委员会驻加沙地区主任贾米尔·哈利迪称，由于加沙地带遭受的破坏规模巨大，以及自以色列发动战争以来发生的大规模人口流离失所，选举进程面临着后勤和安全方面的挑战。委员会已制定应急预案，以防以色列限制物资进入加沙，从而在当地生产选举材料。

对于常驻加沙的政治分析家和作家伊亚德·卡拉来说，战争并没有消除巴勒斯坦人对政治的兴趣，而是改变了他们对政治的期望。

经过近三年的流离失所、破坏和生计丧失，他认为，加沙巴勒斯坦人的政治诉求已经与未来领导人恢复正常生活的能力直接相关，而不仅仅是管理机构或提供政治口号。

卡拉表示，当务之急是建立一个能够代表人民并满足人民基本需求的领导层，其中最重要的是重建加沙，恢复基础设施、卫生和教育部门，并创造条件使人民能够重获生活和生计。

“鉴于加沙地带付出了沉重的代价，人们普遍希望领导层能够将加沙的复苏放在首位，”卡拉说。