Abbas calls for first Palestinian elections in 15 years

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has decreed parliamentary and presidential elections for later this year in what would be the first vote of its kind since 2006, when the Islamic militant group Hamas won a landslide victory.

Elections would pose a major risk for Abbas’ Fatah party and also for Hamas, which welcomed Friday’s decree. Both have faced protests in recent years over their inability to reconcile with each other, advance Palestinian aspirations for statehood or meet the basic needs of those in the territories they govern.

Fatah and Hamas have been publicly calling for elections for more than a decade but have never been able to mend their rift or agree on a process for holding them, and despite the decree, it remained far from clear whether the voting would actually be held.

Elections could also complicate Presidentelect Joe Biden’s plans to restore aid to the Palestinians and to revive the peace process with Israel.

The 2006 election victory by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by Israel and Western countries, led to heavy international pressure being placed on the Palestinian Authority. Clashes between Fatah and Hamas raged for more than a year, culminating in Hamas’ 2007 takeover of the Gaza Strip, which it still controls despite a crippling IsraeliEgyptian blockade and three wars with Israel.

Abbas’ Palestinian Authority is confined to the occupied West Bank, where it administers major population centers according to agreements with Israel. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 war, territories the Palestinians want for their future state.

The decree sets a timeline in which legislative elections would be held on May 22, followed by presidential elections on July 31. Elections for the National Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which represents the Palestinian cause internationally, would be held Aug. 31.

Abbas presented the decree to Hanna Nasir, the head of the Central Election Commission.

Fatah and Hamas have tried to reconcile on a number of occasions over the years, but every attempt has devolved into bickering and mutual recriminations, leaving the Palestinians divided politically and geographically, and further dashing their hopes for independence.