Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has again delayed elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, pushing the vote from next month to Sept. 11, 2027. Presidential elections, also slated for that date, have not been held since Abbas won office in 2005 for what was meant to be a four-year term.
Abbas issued the decree Friday, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. The move means Palestinian voters will go without a chance to elect a new legislature for roughly two decades.
The Palestinian Authority, run by Abbas’ Fatah party, administers parts of the West Bank under agreements dating to the 1990s. It has long faced accusations of corruption and criticism over its security cooperation with Israel — criticism the delayed vote is unlikely to quiet.
Palestinian officials pointed to conditions in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem as justification for the postponement. The Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee, which Abbas chairs, asserted that Israel had blocked election materials and international observers from entering Gaza, according to The Associated Press.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar dismissed that explanation, saying Abbas was trying to deflect blame.
Abbas’ “attempt to drag Israel into this, falsely claiming that Israel imposed obstacles to holding elections, is yet another ridiculous lie designed to evade responsibility and accountability,” Saar wrote on X.
Hamas took a different view, welcoming the postponement as “a step in the right direction” and calling for further talks on rebuilding Palestinian institutions before any election takes place.
A Divided Political Landscape
The last legislative elections, held in 2006, handed Hamas a majority of seats. Israel and Western governments responded with a boycott of the Hamas-led government, a standoff that helped spark unrest culminating in Hamas seizing control of Gaza in 2007. Hamas has governed Gaza ever since, while Abbas’ Fatah-led authority has controlled parts of the West Bank.
The now-postponed election had also raised the prospect of a serious challenge to Abbas’ leadership. Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and a faction led by Mohammed Dahlan — a former Fatah security chief who broke with Abbas — had reportedly been discussing an unusual political alliance ahead of the vote.
“Abbas is terrified by the electoral alliance bringing our faction together with opposition factions and forces within Fatah that reject his leadership,” said Dimitri Dilliani, a spokesperson for Dahlan’s faction.
The delay also comes as the Palestinian Authority’s future role in Gaza remains unsettled under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan struck last year. That plan envisions the authority eventually taking on responsibilities in Gaza, but the timeline and scope remain undefined. Hamas still governs the territory, and a committee of Palestinian technocrats remains in Cairo, waiting for permission to enter Gaza and oversee a transition of power.
