Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree on Saturday canceling legislative elections scheduled for November 28, 2026, and setting presidential and legislative elections for September 11, 2027, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The new decree calls on Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip to participate in "free and direct elections to elect the Palestinian president and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council simultaneously, in accordance with the law," WAFA said.
His decree also 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.
This follows consultations among Palestinian factions, political forces, and the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Serious doubts had emerged that the Palestinian Authority vote would go ahead next month. The Palestinians have not held legislative or presidential elections since 2005-06, after which Abbas' rival, the Islamist group Hamas, seized control of Gaza, ousting his loyalists.
The Executive Committee reached a consensus, deciding that Israeli measures in the West Bank and Gaza posed a significant obstacle to holding elections at the previously scheduled date, WAFA explained, adding that the postponement is to allow for the establishment of "suitable political, security and field conditions for free, fair and inclusive elections."
WAFA cited Israeli military attacks, settlement expansion, settler violence, restrictions on freedom of movement, and the withholding of Palestinian revenues.
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 stabilization forces and police.
Israeli restrictions on access for election commission staff and international observers to Gaza and East Jerusalem also complicated preparations, the decree said.
PA vice president reportedly informed France of election postponement
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.
The WAFA report follows Palestinian Vice President Hussein Al Sheikh informing France of election postponements, citing worsening conditions across the Palestinian territories, according to a Thursday-dated letter addressed to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot seen by Reuters.
"The assessment concluded that the anticipated political, security and economic conditions, on which the scheduling of the legislative elections for November 28, 2026, was based, have not materialized," the letter said. "Holding them (the legislative elections) under the current circumstances faces fundamental obstacles affecting their inclusiveness, freedom of participation, and the integrity of the electoral process."
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar calls Abbas a 'corrupt dictator'
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar responded to the report in an X/Twitter post later on Saturday, describing Abbas as a "corrupt dictator."
"His 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," wrote Sa'ar. "Just like the other lies about 'reforms' that were never implemented - ending payments to terrorists and their families, and stopping incitement in the Palestinian education system. For over twenty years, Abbas has been selling the same thing: lies."