Published : 10 Oct 2026, 09:03 PM
Updated : 10 Oct 2026, 09:03 PM
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday postponed legislative elections due next month until Sept 11, 2027, and scheduled a presidential poll for the same date, citing Israeli restrictions and security conditions in the Palestinian territories.
Abbas’ decree referred to “obstacles posed by Israeli measures” and the need to establish suitable political, security and on-the-ground conditions for “free, fair and inclusive elections”, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The decree called on Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza to vote.
There had been serious doubts that the Palestinian Authority elections would proceed next month. Palestinians have not held legislative or presidential elections since 2005-06, after which Hamas seized control of Gaza, ousting Abbas’ Fatah loyalists.
Abbas has ruled by decree since his presidential mandate expired in 2009.
The Palestinian Authority held municipal elections in April in the West Bank and in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, the only city in the enclave to take part. The vote was the first election held in Gaza since 2006.
The decree cited Israeli military attacks, settlement expansion, settler violence and movement restrictions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as obstacles to preparing for the November elections. It also pointed to Israel’s continued withholding of Palestinian tax revenues.
In Gaza, the decree referred to “exceptional security and humanitarian conditions”, the incomplete withdrawal of Israeli forces, limited progress on reconstruction and the failure to implement arrangements for deploying international stabilisation forces and police.
Israeli restrictions on access for election commission staff and international observers to Gaza and East Jerusalem had also complicated preparations, the decree said.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the announcement. Israel typically bars the Palestinian Authority from holding elections in East Jerusalem, which it captured in the 1967 war and later annexed in a move most countries do not recognise.
The decision followed consultations with Palestinian factions and political forces and was also intended to allow time for a comprehensive national dialogue aimed at strengthening unity and addressing challenges to the electoral process.
Pledge to Hold Vote after 2 Decades
Two Palestinian officials told Reuters on Thursday that leaders of Abbas’ Fatah movement and Hamas had agreed at a meeting in Cairo on Wednesday to postpone the elections.
An August poll by the West Bank-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research showed declining support for both Hamas and Fatah, which many Palestinians blame for their continuing political divisions.
The postponement comes weeks after Abbas reaffirmed the November election timetable in a Sept 24 address to the UN General Assembly, as he sought to advance internationally backed reforms.
Abbas had committed in writing to French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to hold presidential and legislative elections as part of France’s recognition of a Palestinian state in September 2025.
France’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that holding the elections was essential and welcomed the launch of an EU election observation mission.
