Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are holding municipal elections for representatives on dozens of councils.
Voting Saturday, however, is not taking place in the Gaza Strip.
The elections are widely seen as a popularity test for President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, remains deeply split from its more moderate political rival, Fatah, and its leader Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority.
The rivals are blaming each other for the election not being held in Gaza.
"The elections are happening without national consensus," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoun. "Holding them in the West Bank alone, without Gaza, will cement division."
Fatah Deputy Chief Mahmoud al-Aloul said about the political schism that "Unfortunately this joy is taking place in the West Bank alone because Hamas is preventing the people from practicing this right in Gaza."
The rival Palestinian governments have been at loggerheads since a civil war in 2007 when Hamas expelled the Palestinian Authority from Gaza. Hamas also has poor relations with neighboring Egypt because Cairo believes armed militants in Gaza are assisting a deadly Islamic State insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula.
Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel and much of the West despite recent attempts by the movement to soften its image.
Read More West Bank Vote Highlights Palestinian Split : http://ift.tt/2rcmCQw
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