Palestinians are voting today in the first municipal elections in the West Bank in nearly three decades in a forefunner to a presidential ballot next month to choose Yasser Arafat's successor.
The elections were expected to be a test of strength between the dominant Fatah movement and Islamists sworn to destroying Israel.
"This is democracy and freedom, and God willing we will choose the right people who will serve our needs," said Mr Rahma Hamed, a school principal who voted in a village near Ramallah.
In the West Bank, roughly 1,000 candidates were competing for about 300 seats on 26 local councils, mostly in villages, during the first phase of the elections.
A similar poll in the Gaza Strip was delayed because violence prevented registration. Long lines formed in front of polling stations for what was also the first Palestinian ballot since Arafat was elected president in 1996.
On January 9th, Palestinians will choose a successor to Mr Arafat, whose death in a Paris hospital from an undisclosed illness last month has revived hopes for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking and triggered a wave of diplomatic initiatives.