Abbas postpones Palestinian elections

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday cancelled legislative elections scheduled for November due to worsening conditions within the Palestinian territories and set a date of 11 September 2027 for both presidential and legislative elections, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Abbas’ decree cited “obstacles posed by Israeli measures” to holding elections in November and the need to establish suitable political, security and on-the-ground conditions for “free, fair and inclusive elections”. It called on Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza to participate in the polls.
There had been serious doubts that the Palestinian Authority vote would go ahead in late November. The Palestinians have not held legislative or presidential elections since 2005-06, after which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ rival, Hamas, seized control of Gaza, ousting his loyalists. The decree said Israeli military attacks, settlement expansion, settler violence and movement restrictions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, along with Israel’s continued withholding of Palestinian tax revenues, created challenges to preparing for and holding elections on the previous date.