Abbas postpones Palestinian legislative elections to September 2027

In a decree issued on Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that legislative elections will be postponed until September 2027, accompanied by presidential elections on September 11th, 2027. Abbas cited obstacles imposed by Israel as the reason for the postponement, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.

The elections, which were initially scheduled for November 28th, 2026, and an early 2027 presidential vote, have been pushed back due to a lack of suitable political, security, and on-the-ground conditions. Israel has criticized Abbas' Palestinian Authority for being corrupt over the delay. The last legislative elections took place in 2006, when the Islamist movement Hamas emerged victorious, defeating the dominant Fatah party.

This resulted in a power struggle between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza, leading to a territorial divide and a suspension of the Palestinian Legislative Council since 2007.