Abbas postpones Palestinian elections, sets presidential poll for September 2027

RAMALLAH, Oct 10 - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday postponed legislative elections due next month until September 11, 2027, and called a presidential poll for the same date, blaming Israel and the security situation in the Palestinian territories for the delay.

Abbas' decree cited "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.

In a post on X, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, pointing to the last Palestinian election having been held two decades ago, rejected Abbas' remarks as "yet another ridiculous lie designed to evade responsibility and accountability."

There had been serious doubts that the Palestinian Authority vote would go ahead next month. The Palestinians have not held legislative or presidential elections since 2005-2006, after which Abbas' rival, the Islamist group Hamas, seized control of Gaza, ousting his loyalists.

Abbas has governed 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 participate. The vote was the first election held in Gaza since 2006.

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 this November.

In Gaza, the decree pointed to "exceptional security and humanitarian conditions", the incomplete withdrawal of Israeli forces, the lack of progress in reconstruction and the failure to implement arrangements for deploying international stabilisation forces and police.

The decree called on Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza to vote.

Israeli restrictions on access for election commission staff and international observers to Gaza and East Jerusalem also complicated preparations, the decree said.

Israel typically bans the Palestinian Authority from holding elections in East Jerusalem, territory it captured in the 1967 war and later annexed in a move most countries do not recognize.

The decision to postpone followed consultations with Palestinian factions and political forces. It also aimed to allow time for a comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue to strengthen unity and address challenges facing the electoral process.

PLEDGE TO HOLD VOTE AFTER TWO DECADES

Two Palestinian officials told Reuters on Thursday that leaders of Abbas' Fatah movement and rival 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 (PSR) showed declining support for both Hamas and Fatah, which many Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank blame for their continuing political divisions.

The delay comes just weeks after Abbas reaffirmed the November election timetable in his September 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 it welcomed the launch of an EU election observation mission. REUTERS