In Khan Younis, people are following an election they cannot vote in, while airstrikes continue overhead. Israel’s vote is deadlocked, and residents of Gaza are waiting to learn who will lead the next Israeli government. They followed the Israel election results closely on Wednesday, hoping Benjamin Netanyahu loses, according to the Associated Press.
That is the part the polling averages can’t show you. Ten thousand miles of headlines about seat counts, and the people with the most at stake are watching from tent camps and ruins.
Where the Israel election results stand
Israelis voted on Oct. 27, in the first national election since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and the wars that followed. Many saw it as a referendum on Netanyahu, Britannica notes.
No final result is official yet, and the numbers differ depending on the outlet and the hour. With 85.6% of votes counted, Israel’s Ynet News projected Netanyahu’s bloc at 53 seats. That is eight short of the 61 needed to govern. The bloc led by challenger Gadi Eisenkot sat at 48, with Arab parties at 19, Ynet reported. Earlier in the count, Haaretz had Netanyahu’s bloc at 54 and the opposition at 66, counting Arab parties.
Those totals may keep moving. Double-envelope ballots could still shift the result, and Ynet says coalition talks could drag on and leave Israel with a caretaker government. Only the official figures from Israel’s Central Elections Committee will settle the Israel vote count.
Netanyahu has claimed victory despite lacking a majority. President Trump called the outcome a "come-from-behind stalemate," per Haaretz’s live coverage.
What Gaza residents hope the Israeli election results bring
In Khan Younis, the hope is simple: anyone but Netanyahu. Resident Ayman Ahmed told AP he wants Eisenkot to win because Eisenkot backs Trump’s Gaza road map. He is not romantic about it. "All of their policies towards Gaza are tough, but we choose the lesser of two evils," he said.
Not everyone expects change. Mohammed Abed told AP that "an Eisenkot victory will not dramatically change the situation, because their policies are almost similar." Whatever the Knesset election results show, he doesn’t expect much to move.
Meanwhile, the ceasefire holds in name only. AP’s summary says Israeli strikes in Khan Younis on Wednesday killed one Palestinian and wounded at least six. Most of Gaza’s 2 million people remain displaced, AP also reports.
Why the Israel election outcome matters beyond Israel
Here’s the thing for American readers: this vote helps decide whether a US-backed plan moves forward. Trump’s Gaza plan calls for disarming Hamas and installing a new US-backed government. It also requires Israel to withdraw forces and allow reconstruction.
Netanyahu agreed to it but never moved past the first stage, a partial withdrawal and more aid in exchange for the last hostages. AP says the plan has been largely frozen for nearly a year.
So the next Israeli government effectively decides whether that plan moves or stays on the shelf. That affects American diplomacy and regional security.
One note, because accuracy matters: this was an Israeli Knesset election, not a US midterm. It is not an American race, even if Washington has a stake in it.
What happens next after the Israel vote count
Officials will count the remaining ballots first. Then comes the hard part. Israel’s proportional system forces parties to negotiate alliances, and no single party has ever won 61 seats, Al Jazeera explains. Netanyahu and Eisenkot have each vowed to build the next coalition.
Beating Netanyahu at the ballot box doesn’t necessarily remove him from power. For Gaza, that may be the hardest line in the whole story: people there are hoping for a change they don’t get to vote on.
