"Israel" Will Not Allow Palestinian Elections

Writer: Imran Al-Khatib

A Palestinian official source stated that the Israeli government has refused to allow the Central Elections Commission to enter the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem to follow up on the procedures for the legislative elections scheduled for November 28.

This raises the question: Was it expected that "Israel," as an occupying state, would allow Palestinian elections to take place, given its settlement policies and actions on the ground? The annexation of the West Bank under the name of Judea and Samaria, and the plan for the displacement of Palestinians...

"Israel" has worked on military redeployment and enhancing security control in most areas of the West Bank, while hundreds of military checkpoints are spread across various parts of the West Bank, which has led to its fragmentation, in addition to the continued confiscation of land and settlement activities, and the proposal of projects related to the annexation of Palestinian areas, along with the announcement of the concept of 'Greater Jerusalem.'

These policies have also received support from the American administration, whose president, Donald Trump, announced the recognition of the United States of Jerusalem as the capital of "Israel" and moved the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

These measures come in the context of broader developments in the Palestinian territories, especially after the seventh of October, where "Israel" imposes a complex security and military reality in the Gaza Strip, alongside its continued control over crossings and outlets.

In light of this reality, and with the absence of the Palestinian Authority in managing the Gaza Strip, the issue of the future of the Palestinian Authority and its role re-emerges, in light of the Oslo Agreement under which the Palestinian Authority was established, which "Israel" has practically begun to treat as an outdated framework in many files.

From this perspective, the prevention of the entry of the Palestinian electoral committee into the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem by "Israel" should not come as a surprise, given the nature of the existing political and security reality.

This situation leads us to the necessity of successfully conducting the Palestinian national dialogue in the coming days in Cairo, and working towards reaching an agreement on national partnership, under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization and its legislative and executive institutions.

There is also a pressing need to work towards national consensus on forming a new Palestinian National Council, which includes representatives from both the interior and the diaspora, while agreeing on a number of national figures from Jerusalem, and establishing a clear mechanism for selecting members in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the diaspora.

What matters is not the form as much as the content, and the ultimate goal is to achieve national results that serve the Palestinian people and maintain their political and institutional unity.

Under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of our Palestinian people,

Omranalkhateeb4@gmail.com