Jerusalem:Israel's final parliamentary election results are anticipated to be released Thursday evening. This follows an announcement from an election official referenced by the Israeli news website Ynet.

According to Anadolu Agency – English, Elad Naveh, the director of the Central Elections Committee's control center, indicated that the counting of special double-envelope ballots began Wednesday evening. The expectation is for this process to be completed by Thursday evening, although it might extend to Friday. The committee has revised the estimated number of double-envelope ballots to range between 430,000 and 480,000. They noted that not all special envelopes have been processed, emphasizing that the estimate is preliminary and may change as counting continues.

The special ballots were cast by voters who were unable to vote at their registered polling stations, including soldiers, diplomats, police officers, and displaced residents. Voters place their ballot inside an envelope, which is subsequently placed in a second envelope containing their identification details to prevent duplicate voting. As of the latest count, 85.6% of the votes had been tallied.

Partial results indicate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc is projected to secure 53 seats, while the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot is forecasted to gain 48 seats, with predominantly Arab parties expected to obtain 19 seats. Neither major bloc is projected to achieve the 61 seats necessary for a parliamentary majority in the 120-member Knesset. Naveh warned that the final distribution of seats could shift once the remaining ballots are counted.

More than 7.3 million Israelis were eligible to vote in Tuesday's elections, which marked the first since the onset of the genocidal conflict in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.