GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Independent and tribal lists made remarkable progress in the Palestinian local elections held May 13, as they defeated factional lists such as Fatah and the Palestinian left.

Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine boycotted the elections on the grounds that they were held in the West Bank and not the Gaza Strip. Hamas refused to hold the elections in Gaza in protest against the Palestinian High Court of Justice’s calling off in September 2016 of the local elections that were scheduled for the next month, as well as in protest of President Mahmoud Abbas’ formation of the Local Elections Court on Jan. 10 without consulting the Palestinian factions.

The elections were called off after the court accepted a lawsuit filed by Palestinian lawyer Nael al-Houh to stop the elections on the grounds that the institutions that were tasked with supervising them in the Gaza Strip were illegal and included Hamas employees.

There were 536 lists competing in the elections. The independent lists got 65% of the seats, Fatah got 27.6%, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine 2.8% and a coalition formed by several parties 2.8%. The Palestinian National Initiative got 0.6%, the Palestinian Democratic Union 0.45%, the Democratic Alliance 0.3%, the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front 0.3% and the Palestinian People's Party 0.2%.