Soft war is the right word for the registration for the elections in the Gaza Strip. In fact, the number of people who have registered for the elections has reached a rate that has exceeded the expectations of the Electoral Commission, which estimated that up to 330,000 of those over 17 years old would register. The rate of those who have registered up until last Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013, however, reached 351,000 citizens, according to reports from the Central Election Commission.

Iyad Krunz, a representative of Fatah's Central Election Commission, says that the large number of people who have registered in the Gaza Strip is due to the competition between the parties, adding that there is something similar to a hidden war between them. Parties are encouraging their members to register, and party members are encouraging their acquaintances and family members to register in order to be able to bring about change.

Krunz further told Al-Monitor that people want change, but through the ballot box. Therefore, the results came against all odds. He pointed out that an estimated 10% of registered voters — or 35,000 citizens — updated their data and are not newly registered.

Salma Shaath, 21, whom we met in the registration center at Bashir al-Rais in Gaza, told Al-Monitor that she registered for the elections because she wants to elect a new party that is different from Fatah and Hamas, as Gaza has tried both and is sick of them.