Abbas Delays Palestinian Elections, Sets 2027 Date

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas postponed a legislative election scheduled for November and set September 11, 2027, as the date for both legislative and presidential elections, according to the decree reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFA. The decree said Israeli measures and the absence of suitable conditions for free, fair and inclusive elections had obstructed preparations. It called for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and the West Bank to participate in the elections. The reasons for the delay are disputed. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected Abbas’s account, accusing him of falsely blaming Israel for the postponement. The supplied reports do not independently establish whether Israeli measures obstructed election preparations. WAFA reported that the decree cited Israeli military operations, settlement expansion, settler violence and restrictions affecting movement, as well as Israel’s withholding of Palestinian tax revenues. The Palestinian Authority also said election officials had been denied access to East Jerusalem and Gaza, according to one report. That allegation was not independently confirmed in the supplied reporting.