As presidential, legislative and municipal elections have been disrupted in the Palestinian territories since 2006, due to the Fatah-Hamas divide, the university elections seem to be the most credible indicator to identify the weight of the Palestinian political forces.

The elections of the student cabinet, in which 9,000 students voted, at Birzeit University in the West Bank on April 27, resulted in Hamas' student wing the Islamic Bloc winning 25 out of 51 seats. Fatah's student wing, the Shabiba movement, won 21 seats and the Democratic Pole affiliated with the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine obtained five seats.

Ibrahim Jaq, the Islamic Bloc coordinator at Birzeit University, told Al-Monitor, “The reason behind the bloc winning the elections is its work among the students throughout the year; the student cabinet led by the bloc provided many services to the university students. This has resulted in the substantial support for the bloc and its victory in the elections with the largest number of votes. In addition, the students have opted for the resistance and Jerusalem intifada, and we also did not distinguish between this or that party in the provision of services. Thus many Christian students and unveiled female students voted for us, in light of the Israeli arrests of the student cabinet’s head and 30 activists, and the Palestinian Authority's [PA] pursuit and restrictions against the bloc’s activists.”

Hamas regards the victory of its student branch to go beyond the campus of Birzeit University. In an official statement April 27, it said that the victory is a referendum on its armed resistance program against Israel, a message of support for the Jerusalem intifada and a sign showing Hamas’ strength.