GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The stages of the local council elections in the Palestinian territories that started July 27 have highlighted a deep-rooted Palestinian internal division at various levels. The division was felt even more sharply when the electoral campaigns started, when slander and insults were exchanged between Fatah and Hamas supporters.

Fatah refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Gaza courts following the disqualification of some of its electoral lists by the courts and the Central Elections Commission, allegedly for not meeting the electoral requirements or violating the law.

The lists that were disqualified are mostly Fatah’s, in addition to one independent list. On Sept. 4, the elections commission disqualified five Fatah lists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip after objections were filed against them.

The commission dismissed 154 objections raised against other electoral lists supported by Hamas and by independents in Gaza and the West Bank. The lists in question then had to file challenges before the courts in the West Bank and Gaza in accordance with the Palestinian electoral law. Five additional Fatah lists were disqualified on Sept. 8, while one list was readmitted to the electoral game in the West Bank.