Hamas And Other Palestinian Factions Urge Mahmoud Abbas To Convene Urgent Leadership Meeting

Palestinian factions on Sunday called on President Mahmoud Abbas to convene an urgent meeting of faction leaders to launch a national dialogue, hold comprehensive elections, and formulate a unified strategy "to confront ongoing challenges."

“Several Palestinian factions on Sunday called on President Mahmoud Abbas to convene an urgent meeting of faction leaders to launch a national dialogue, hold comprehensive elections and formulate a unified strategy "to confront ongoing challenges”

A News

The joint statement was issued by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian National Initiative, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, and it said "national unity and political partnership are the only option" to confront what it described as "the war of genocide."

A News

The factions said the temporary unified leadership framework agreed upon in past reconciliation deals, most recently the Beijing reconciliation agreement, "remains the transitional national reference capable of leading this phase and ensuring institutional continuity on the basis of consensus."

The call came after Abbas issued a decree amending the general elections law, increasing the number of Legislative Council seats from 132 to 200 and lowering the candidacy age from 28 to 23, and after a decree on Feb. 2 calling on Palestinians at home and abroad to participate in elections for the Palestinian National Council scheduled for Nov. 1, 2026.

The political scene has remained divided since 2007, when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip while Abbas' Fatah retained control of the occupied West Bank, as Palestinians continue to face the consequences of Israel's ongoing war on Gaza, which has killed more than 73,000 people and injured over 173,000 since Oct. 8, 2023.

A separate joint statement reported by جريدة القدس said major Palestinian factions demanded cancelling the election mechanism and convening a meeting of the general secretaries of the factions to launch a comprehensive national dialogue and formulate a unified resistance strategy.

The signatories warned against attempts to "re-engineer the Palestinian political system" in response to external pressures or dictates, and they said the real entry point to restoring unity begins with a dialogue that includes everyone and is rooted in the principles of democracy and consensus.

Al-Jazeera Net

In the same reporting, the Palestinians in Europe Initiative for National Action called on President Abbas to immediately retract the call to hold elections for the National Council in its current announced form, arguing that the adopted mechanism could deepen internal division rather than end it.

Al-Jazeera Net also described the factions’ position that the "unified temporary leadership framework" is capable of leading this phase and ensuring continuity of national institutions on a consensus basis, while it said the Europeans for National Action initiative warned the current election call could entrench division and marginalize Palestinians in the diaspora.

Al-Jazeera Net tied the dispute to Abbas’s June 14 decision to amend the general election law, including raising the number of members of the Legislative Council from 132 to 200 and reducing the candidacy age from 28 to 23, as preparations for upcoming electoral deadlines.

The factions’ statements framed the political push as a response to what they described as existential threats to the Palestinian cause, including "eviction projects, ethnic cleansing, annexation and liquidation of national rights."

“Major Palestinian factions issued an urgent call to President Mahmoud Abbas, urging him to convene an immediate meeting of the general secretaries of the factions, with the aim of launching a comprehensive national dialogue that would lead to general elections and to formulate a unified resistance strategy to confront the existential challenges facing the Palestinian cause”

Jaridat al-Quds

Al-Jazeera Net reported that the factions called for giving precedence to the supreme national interest and uniting the ranks to confront risks that threaten Palestinians, while also insisting that any steps to rebuild and develop Palestinian national institutions must be based on comprehensive national consensus and inclusive dialogue.

The Palestinians Europeans for National Action initiative, as quoted by Al-Jazeera Net, urged Abbas to back away from elections in their current form in November and said the dialogue must be based on prior national agreements, foremost among which is rebuilding the Palestinian Liberation Organization as the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people.

In the same reporting, Al-Jazeera Net said the initiative called for conducting comprehensive, free, and fair elections for a new Palestinian National Council, with participation of the Palestinian people inside and outside, with consensus endorsed in the countries and regions where elections cannot be held.

Both the A News report and the جريدة القدس report placed the political maneuvering against the backdrop of Israel’s war on Gaza and the West Bank, citing more than 73,000 martyrs and about 173,000 injured during the war that has been ongoing for two and a half years.