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Hamas backs elections
Hamas said it will participate in upcoming Palestinian elections under the broadest possible national coalition, with Hussam Badran telling Al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday that Hamas and most Palestinian factions and electoral blocs oppose imposing "political conditions or requiring participants to adopt a specific political programme."
“Hussam Badran said in an interview with Al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday that Hamas and most Palestinian factions and electoral blocs oppose imposing”
Badran described the vote as a "historic opportunity" to change the Palestinian political landscape and "end two decades of unilateral decision-making on national affairs," while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced legislative elections for November 28, 2026, followed by the convening of the National Council and presidential elections in 2027.
The Palestinian Legislative Council has been inactive since 2007 after the political split and Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip, and Abbas dissolved the council in 2018, while the last Palestinian legislative elections were held in 2006.
In the same accounts, Hamas framed the elections as a way for Palestinians to choose their leaders and political program through legislative elections in the Palestinian territories or elections for the Palestinian National Council, described as the "broader representative body for Palestinians."
Rejecting political conditions
In an interview relayed by Al-Jazira Net, Badran rejected what he called conditions imposed on factions and participating parties, saying "Hamas, along with the majority of factions and electoral blocs, rejects this principle."
Al-Jazira Net also reported that Badran said there are directions within the Election Committee and the Palestinian judiciary to guarantee the people's freedom to choose their political program, while he criticized the call for elections as coming without national consensus despite being legally late by about two decades.
Badran tied the political dispute to the broader Palestinian system, arguing that Palestinians have an inherent and coercive right to choose their leadership and political program whether for legislative elections within the Palestinian territories or for the elections of the National Council.
In the same reporting, Abbas’s timeline was reiterated: legislative elections on November 28, 2026, followed by the convening of the National Council and organizing presidential elections in 2027.
Badran also positioned Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque as central to the political agenda, describing them as "the heart of the conflict and the banner of the Palestinian cause" at Palestinian, Arab, Islamic, and international levels.
Regional context and stakes
Beyond the election announcement, TRT World placed the Palestinian political system in a divided context since 2007, with Hamas administering Gaza where Israel has waged a war since October 2023 and a government formed by the Fatah movement administering the occupied West Bank.
“with Hamas administering Gaza, where Israel has waged a genocidal war since October 2023”
In parallel, Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the Iraqi government is stepping up efforts to rein in armed groups as Shiite political circles debate the future relationship between the state and armed factions ahead of the US-led international coalition’s withdrawal deadline at the end of September.
Asharq Al-Awsat said Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service uncovered cells and drone-production networks in Baghdad overnight Friday into Saturday run by Iranian figures, and it quoted spokesman Haider al-Aboudi saying the joint security and intelligence effort "thwarted an attack while it was still being prepared."
The same Asharq Al-Awsat account said the operation involved the Iraqi National Intelligence Service and included arrests and seizures of equipment, including drones, while Iraqi authorities raised security readiness and ordered intensified inspections of civilian and military vehicles at checkpoints.
Together, the sources frame the Palestinian elections as a political turning point amid ongoing conflict and division, while Iraq’s raids and heightened readiness underscore security pressures tied to armed factions and cross-border threats.
