RESTRICTION SUMMARY: APAwire CLIENTS ONLY SHOTLIST: APAwire - APAwire CLIENTS ONLY, Ramallah - 12 December 2021. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtayeh speaks during a meeting of his government, in the West Bank city of Ramallah. SOUNDBITE: Polls opened this morning for the first phase of local elections at 154 Palestinian localities, all in the West Bank, after attempts to hold elections in 11 Gaza Strip localities have failed and therefore delayed until the second phase scheduled for March 26, said Hanna Nasir, chairman of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC). The village councils have nine members, while the municipal authorities have three kinds of councils based on the number of people living there and include councils of 11, 13, or 15 members. The first phase of elections will be held in all the village councils and the municipal authorities with 11-member councils only. Elections for the rest of the municipalities that include the major cities will be held in the second phase on March 26. The number of eligible voters is 405,687 who are registered in 222 polling centers, which have 717 ballot boxes. While the number of polling staff in these centers exceeds 4000 employees. Footage by APAwire Qatar reiterated its continued partnership with the United Nations system to achieve its goals, noting that it is one of the leading countries in providing development and relief assistance, and is keen to adhere to the principles of shared responsibility and multilateral action. This came in the statement of Qatar delivered by Third Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Qatar to the United Nations Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, at the session of the United Nations General Assembly on the item “Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief, assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance”. The statement affirmed the Qatar’s keenness to provide humanitarian and development support to the Palestinian people, in line with the policy of Qatar to mitigate the effects of humanitarian crises, noting the grant that was provided under the guidance of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, in May 2021 worth $500m in support of the reconstruction of Gaza Strip. It also referred to the statement of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, which praised the support made with the generous assistance of Qatar, which allowed the continuation of fuel supplies to Gaza power plant, sponsorship of projects and financial assistance. The statement referred to the agreement signed by Qatar Fund for Development last November with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which is a contribution agreement to support UNRWA’s basic resources for the period 2021-2022, in the amount of $18m, with the provision of comprehensive additional support for Palestinian refugees in Syria in the sectors of health, education and economic development, with a total amount of $7m.