In her critics' eyes, the new mayor of Azzun already has two strikes against her: her gender and her youth. But Yusra Mohammed Badwan plans to swing away, claiming opposition just makes her stronger.

Badwan, 25, became the youngest female mayor in the Palestinian territories after her independent list, the Prisoners’ Bloc, won in the local elections. On May 22, the elected bloc chose a mayor, and Badwan won with six out of 11 votes.

She grew up in Azzun, which is 24 square kilometers (9 square miles) and has a population of 12,000. Badwan graduated in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Palestine Technical University in Qalqilya. She worked as a contracting engineer in the city of Jericho in the eastern West Bank and as a supervisory engineer in the Cooperative Housing Foundation. She also participated in social volunteer work in her hometown, which made her face known among the people who gave her their vote of confidence.

“I didn't hesitate to run in the local elections in Azzun because I want women and youth to be more involved in these elections and I aspire to make a positive change in my hometown," she told Al-Monitor. "I first ran in October 2016, but the government decided to postpone the elections due to disagreements between Hamas and Fatah at the time."