Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced plans for parliamentary and presidential elections for the first time in about 15 years as the Palestinians try to reconnect with President-elect Joe Biden after falling out with the Trump administration.
The Palestinians have tried several times to hold elections over the past decade, but each attempt has been sunk by challenges, including sharp divisions between Fatah, the party that largely controls the Palestinian Authority that rules the West Bank, and Hamas, a Palestinian militant group. it controls Gaza.
Still, the decree issued Friday night by 85-year-old Mr. a half.
The Palestinian leader’s decree fixed parliamentary elections on May 22 and presidential elections on July 31. Elections to the Palestinian National Council, which represents Palestinians abroad, were scheduled for August 31.
The proposal is part of a broader effort to heal internal schisms within Palestinian leadership. The issue of Palestinian unity has become increasingly important to both Hamas and Fatah following the US-brokered Abraham Accords, which have seen Israel normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco since last September. For decades, the Palestinians have counted on their Arab allies to withhold normalizing relations with Israel until Israel made peace with them.