For Palestinians, Netanyahu's victory is merely a changing of the prison guards

Benjamin Netanyahu has made an impressive comeback after his ousting in 2021 amid corruption B allegations. In last week's election, his party, Likud, received more votes than any other party and his far-right allies came third, paving the way for a Likud-led coalition government. Although forming a coalition isn't an easy game - indeed, Netanyahu has failed in the previous four elections to do so - this time he's expected to form a comfortable majority bloc with ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties.

- Yara Hawari

Yet despite this prospect, for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza the Israeli elections have not been at the forefront of political discussion, as they continue to resist and fight for their survival on ever-shrinking territory. For them, it's simply a matter of changing the prison guards - because across the Israeli parties, support for the continued oppression of Palestinians and the colonisation of Palestine is a uniting feature.

The leader of the Religious Zionist party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has risen to prominence over the past year. BenGvir was once considered a fringe candidate, but he has mustered a strong following. He lives in a Hebron settlement known as Kiryat Arba, home to some of the most extreme Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and he has built a legal career defending Jewish Israeli extremists.