The three-storey, off-white stone building housing the Palestinian Central Elections Commission stands on a side street in a quiet neighbourhood of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
The only evidence of activity on a recent afternoon was a handful of employees making their way out of the building at the end of the working day.
But appearances can be deceptive.
The commission is entrusted with the historic and crucial task of organising the first legislative elections in 20 years. The vote, although more than two months away, has brought to the fore the question of Palestinian unity, electoral alliances and, more importantly, the fate of the Palestinian cause.
The vote on November 28, is due at a time when the Palestinian cause, which has been the region's harbinger of war and peace for close to a century, faces a realistic prospect of burial. The dream of an independent Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip has never looked more distant or difficult to realise.
Evidence of that grim prospect abounds, including Israel's occupation of 70 per cent of Gaza and the systematic land grabs carried out by settlers in the West Bank, where settlements are steadily growing.
Moreover, armed resistance against Israel's 59-year-old occupation of the West Bank and Gaza appears to have come to a halt as the Gaza war has left Hamas, the militant group responsible for most attacks against Israel since the 1990s, significantly weakened.
A recent opinion poll also showed Palestinian support for the armed struggle has dropped sharply in less than a year. Most now favour negotiations to end the Israeli occupation and achieve statehood.
Talk of forced or voluntary eviction of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank is no longer whispered by Israeli politicians. They now publicly call for it, albeit disguised as giving the Palestinians the right of choice to live where they wish.
Mahmoud Abbas, the 90-year-old Palestinian President in office since 2005, and his Ramallah-based government also find themselves with little leverage over events and facing growing calls by Palestinians and western powers for reform.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday that there was “no more powerful way for a people aspiring to self-determination to express themselves fully in an election than by choosing leaders who will subsequently become fully legitimate interlocutors for the international community”.
“It is essential that these elections take place; I see no technical or logistical obstacle that is insurmountable,” he added.
Political analyst Ayman Al Raqeeb said Gaza had been bombarded for close to three years “and President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority have not even managed to send a single drop of water to the people there to ease their suffering”.
Mr Abbas's term in office should have ended in 2009, but he remained in power without a new presidential election. Elections held in 2021 were called off by him when Israel prevented residents of east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state, from casting their ballots.
Significantly, many Palestinians are sceptical whether the elections will go ahead as planned, although the Elections Commission has updated and published the voters' rolls, appointed nine judges to rule on disputes and set September 11 as the date when candidates can register to run.
“What we fear the most is that President Abbas, with the backing of factions loyal to him, will cancel the vote for whatever reason and appoint a transitional national assembly that sits for years to come,” said Mr Al Raqeeb. “He will do that thinking it will be enough to deflect western pressure on him to reform.”
“Many are uncertain that the elections will indeed be held,” said another Palestinian analyst, Ismat Mansour. “But they are still carrying on as if [they] will, to show the President that the vote offers an opportunity for everyone to rebuild the political system.
“Our [Palestinian] cause is becoming fragmented and weak, and that's a huge challenge that we face now.”
Another challenge, according to the analysts, is how the vote will be held in Gaza, where the Board of Peace, part of US President Donald Trump's plan for the enclave, has taken jurisdiction and replaced Hamas, which had ruled the strip since 2007.
Some experts believe President Trump may intervene to allow the vote to take place because he wants to test Hamas's repeated claim that it intends to surrender its arms and become a peaceful political group.
Israel has yet to publicly state its position on the elections.
According to Jamal Nazzal, spokesman for President Abbas's mainstream Fatah group, Israel may want to see the elections go ahead and Hamas winning it to justify its continuing targeting of the group's leaders.
“If the Palestinians hand Hamas a mandate, that may serve as the rationale behind renewed attacks and assassinations by Israel,” Mr Nazzal said. “Besides, Hamas in its present state cannot provide anything useful to the Palestinians in Gaza, like basic services and reconstruction.”
Hamas won a comfortable majority in the legislative elections held in 2006, the last such vote. A year later, Hamas defeated Fatah in a brief civil war in Gaza, throwing supporters of its rival out of the territory and becoming the sole ruler there since.
Significantly, Hamas and a major Fatah faction led by Mohammed Dahlan are exploring the creation of a broad alliance to contest the November elections.
Mr Dahlan's emergence as a possible unifier ahead of the vote could have been made possible by Hamas's decision to lay down its arms. Now, his close ties to Egypt and segments of the Trump administration could translate into more humanitarian aid for Gaza, fast-tracked reconstruction and US pressure on Israel to comply with provisions of the Trump Gaza plan that it has not honoured.
But an official from the Islamic Jihad, a militant Palestinian group that has fought Israel alongside Hamas in Gaza, said persistent divisions within Fatah could stymie Mr Dahlan's bid to reach an understanding with other factions.
“There is still time before the alliances and the positions take shape,” he said, alluding to a meeting in Cairo that took place on August 17 between Mr Dahlan and leaders of Palestinian factions, including Hamas.
“We believe Abu Mazen [President Abbas] may be working to postpone the elections, despite public statements that the Palestinian Authority remains committed to holding them on schedule.
“This is because there are problems within Fatah, including disagreements stemming from concerns over Dahlan’s potential influence on the elections and his growing influence within Fatah itself.”
While legislative elections are called for November 28, no date has been announced for presidential elections. That is making some Palestinians feel uncomfortable and question the significance of the November 28 vote.
One of those is Palestinian political analyst Abbas Melhem, who wants the two votes to be held simultaneously. “There is no legitimacy without the two votes being held. It's a popular Palestinian demand so that we can have a legitimate administration."
