Palestinian elections face indefinite delay amid efforts to reconcile rival factions

Jack Khoury reports in Haaretz on 30 September 2026:

The Palestinian parliamentary elections scheduled for November 28 could be postponed indefinitely, as President Mahmoud Abbas’ ruling Fatah party weighs whether to delay the vote amid efforts to reconcile rival Palestinian factions and a growing challenge from a breakaway faction led by Mohammed Dahlan.

While a senior Fatah official told Haaretz that the movement decided to proceed with the elections on that date, a Palestinian source told the Saudi Al-Sharq channel that discussions within the movement are inclined toward postponing the elections “until further notice.”

According to the source, various considerations led those involved to support this option.

The dispute over the election date is linked, among other things, to the intra-Palestinian reconciliation talks expected to take place in Cairo. Contacts with Egypt on the matter are ongoing, but a date for the talks has not yet been set.

A senior Fatah official told Haaretz that although the movement decided to hold the elections on November 28, the final date and election procedures must be determined within a comprehensive national dialogue.

“We have no choice but to go to elections,” he said, adding that Fatah would respect the democratic process and its results, even if they prove difficult for the movement.

In Ramallah, there is also awareness that within Fatah in the West Bank, young activists are holding discussions to submit a slate of candidates identified with the movement but not with the PA leadership, which would challenge the organization’s leaders.

Senior officials in Gulf states familiar with the Palestinian arena told Haaretz that at this stage, it is unclear how much regional pressure will be exerted on Fatah and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, to hold the elections on schedule.

According to them, some considerations also depend on the results of elections in Israel and regional developments, with the aim that the Palestinian elections will lead to unity, not division. However, the real challenge for Abbas and Fatah leaders is the contacts being led by Mohammed Dahlan, who heads the reformist faction within Fatah and is a fierce opponent of the PA chairman.

As reported in Haaretz, Dahlan is working to establish a counter-coalition, initiating a broad slate that will include independent figures and professionals identified with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but who are not members of these organizations and do not act on their behalf.

According to a source close to Dahlan, the slate is expected to include Nasser al-Qudwa, Yasser Arafat’s nephew and former Palestinian foreign minister, who left Fatah due to disagreements with Abbas. Marwan Barghouti, a former Fatah operative imprisoned in Israel on terror charges, is expected to head the slate. He is described as the leader of the movement and a possible presidential candidate.

Sources close to Barghouti confirmed to Haaretz that advanced contacts are indeed taking place with his associates in the West Bank, but emphasized that it has not yet been decided whether he will lead this coalition or run independently on a slate for parliament and then for the presidency.  Barghouti, imprisoned in Israel, was convicted in 2004 of direct responsibility for three terror attacks in which five people were murdered, and is serving five life sentences.

Dahlan’s faction this week issued an official statement calling for the formation of a united slate, to be chosen based on qualifications and to receive the support of Palestinian factions opposing the status quo.

In a statement published this week, the faction’s spokesman and member of the movement’s Revolutionary Council, Dimitri Diliani, said the slate should present professionals and individuals with public experience for public election in the first Palestinian parliamentary vote since 2006.  Diliani called for the initiative to include Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, other factions and independent professionals, to unite around a national reconstruction plan.

He argued that the Palestinian Authority had failed in its handling of Gaza and Palestinians in general, and presented a joint slate as a suitable political tool to address the challenges and reconstruct the Strip.

He noted that estimates by the UN, the European Union and the World Bank indicate a need for $71.4 billion for Gaza’s reconstruction within ten years.

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