Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has postponed planned legislative elections until 11 September 2027 and called a presidential poll for the same day, citing Israeli restrictions and the security situation in the Palestinian territories.
A decree said conditions were not yet in place for “free, fair and inclusive elections”, pointing to Israeli military attacks, settlement expansion, settler violence and movement restrictions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
It also blamed Israel’s continued withholding of Palestinian tax revenues and restrictions on access for election commission staff and international observers in Gaza and East Jerusalem.
In Gaza, the decree referred to “exceptional security and humanitarian conditions”, the incomplete withdrawal of Israeli forces, limited progress on reconstruction and the absence of arrangements for deploying international stabilisation forces and police.
The decision followed consultations with Palestinian factions and political forces. It was also intended to allow time for a wider national dialogue aimed at strengthening Palestinian unity and addressing problems surrounding the electoral process.
Israel generally prevents the Palestinian Authority from holding elections in East Jerusalem, which it captured during the 1967 war and later annexed in a move not recognised by most countries.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected Abbas’s explanation. Referring to the fact that the last Palestinian election was held about two decades ago, Mr Saar wrote on X that it was “yet another ridiculous lie designed to evade responsibility and accountability”.
Palestinians have not held legislative or presidential elections since 2005 and 2006. After those elections, Abbas’s rival Hamas seized control of Gaza and ousted his loyalists.
Mr 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 take part.
That vote was the first election held in Gaza since 2006. The latest decree said Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza would be expected to participate in the elections scheduled for September 2027.
