Campaigning has ended for the first round of local Palestinian elections to be held on Thursday.
Some 140,000 Palestinians are eligible to vote in 26 communities around the West Bank. More than 800 people are running for local offices.
A second round of voting in other communities is set for early in the new year, after presidential elections that are scheduled for January 9.
The vast majority of candidates in the local elections are members of the mainstream Fatah party. Results from Thursday's elections are not expected to be made public until the end of the week.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.
