Campaign posters and stickers line the streets. Glad-handing politicians work their way through markets. And the talk of hope is in the air – all in war-weary Gaza. Amid stalled cease-fire diplomacy, Israeli restrictions on aid and isolated airstrikes, water shortages, and poverty, something surprising is occurring in the central Gaza Strip this weekend: elections. After nearly two decades, and amid a devastating war, Gazans in the central city of Deir al-Balah have the opportunity Saturday to elect local municipal council members. Why We Wrote This Municipal elections called by the Palestinian Authority and allowed by Hamas are being held Saturday in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, coinciding with voting in the West Bank. It’s the first time since 2005 that Gazans anywhere are able to vote. Water and sanitation are on the ballot, as is, symbolically, Palestinian national unity.…