Excerpt
The 1996 elections took place in a moment of optimism in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, and many Palestinians believed that the government they were electing would be the first of an independent Palestinian state. However, in the ensuing months and years, Israelis and Palestinians failed to resolve their differences and come to a final status agreement, and an upswing in violence meant that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict would continue. As a result of this instability, new presidential and legislative elections were not held until nearly a decade later.
There were no real strong conventional political parties in place before the election. The results were dominated by Fatah, the strongest movement within the Palestine Liberation Organization, which was headed by Yassir Arafat. The Islamist Hamas, Fatah's main rival, refused to participate in the election; they felt that doing so would lend legitimacy to the PNA, which was created out of what they called unacceptable negotiations and compromises with Israel. Independent international observers reported the elections to have been free and fair; however, boycotts by Hamas and opposition movements limited voter choices.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Palestinian_general_election#:~:text=General%20elections%20were%20held%20for,legislative%20arm%20of%20the%20PNA.