Postponing the Palestinian legislative elections... due to “fundamental obstacles”

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The Palestinian Authority decided to postpone the legislative elections that were scheduled to be held at the end of next November, against the backdrop of what it described as “fundamental obstacles” that prevent them from being held in light of the current political, security, and economic circumstances.

Palestinian Vice President Hussein Al-Sheikh informed French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot that the elections would be postponed for several months due to the deteriorating conditions across the Palestinian territories, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

The letter, dated October 8, stated that “the evaluation concluded that the expected political, security and economic conditions, on which the date of the legislative elections on November 28, 2026 was based, have not been achieved,” explaining that “conducting the elections under the current circumstances faces fundamental obstacles that affect their comprehensiveness, freedom of participation and the integrity of the electoral process.”

Palestinian sources had revealed to Al-Arabiya/Al-Hadath that there was an agreement between the Palestinian factions to adopt the Popular Front initiative and implement it according to specific mechanisms and a timetable, which includes postponing the legislative elections for a year and canceling the results of the electoral colleges of the Palestinian National Council.

This consensus came after a series of meetings held recently by the Palestinian factions in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, with the participation of a delegation from the Fatah movement, along with delegations from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front. The sources explained that the Fatah delegation will submit the recommendations of the recent meetings to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, for discussion in the movement’s Central Committee and the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in preparation for recommending the issuance of a presidential decree in the coming days to postpone the elections for a year.

The sources also added that Cairo will host, in the coming weeks, a comprehensive national dialogue at an Egyptian invitation, with the participation of Palestinian factions, with the aim of ending the Palestinian division and achieving national unity.

Note that a responsible Palestinian source spoke earlier about the Israeli government’s refusal to allow the Palestinian Central Elections Commission to enter the Gaza Strip and the city of Jerusalem, to follow up on preparations for the legislative elections, considering at the time that the Israeli refusal would obstruct the work of the committee in two areas of the Palestinian territories.

It is noteworthy that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree last July setting November 28, 2026 as the date for holding legislative elections, calling on voters in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to participate in them.

At that time, the Central Elections Commission confirmed its readiness to implement the electoral process, and said earlier that its plan includes Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in addition to the West Bank. It also called on the international community to support the process and put pressure to remove the obstacles that prevent it from performing its duties in the various Palestinian territories.

The last Palestinian legislative elections were held in 2006, and as a result of their results, the dispute between the Fatah and Hamas movements deepened, before Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, consolidating the Palestinian political and geographical division.