Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has delayed the legislative elections that were set for November 28 and scheduled both parliamentary and presidential votes for September 11, 2027. This would have been the first major Palestinian elections in nearly 20 years.
In his decree, Abbas blamed "obstacles posed by Israeli measures," including military raids, settlement expansion, settler violence, and movement restrictions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, plus Israel's withholding of tax revenues. He also pointed to conditions in Gaza — incomplete Israeli withdrawal, slow reconstruction, and no international stabilization force — and said election materials and observers were blocked from entering Gaza and East Jerusalem.
Critics call it another delay to protect the leadership. Abbas, 90, was elected in 2005 for a four-year term and has not held a presidential vote since. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the explanation a "ridiculous lie" and labeled Abbas a "corrupt dictator" avoiding accountability. Others note the November date was only set under Western pressure for reforms, and many Palestinians have long wanted new leadership.
The decree followed a meeting in Cairo on Wednesday where Fatah and Hamas leaders agreed to recommend postponing the vote, two Palestinian officials told Reuters. The November date itself had come from a pledge Abbas made to French President Emmanuel Macron as part of France's recognition of a Palestinian state — and France's foreign ministry said Thursday it still wanted the elections held, calling them essential to renewed Palestinian legitimacy.
The decree landed on the same day thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched through European capitals demanding sanctions on Israel, marking three years since the October 7, 2023 attack.
In London, several thousand demonstrators moved past Parliament carrying placards reading "End the genocide" and "Free Palestine." Aimee Shalan, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, told AFP that Western sanctions over settler violence did not go far enough and called for "full sanctions on Israel." London's Metropolitan Police said they made 20 arrests, including a man and a woman holding placards supporting Palestine Action, a group banned under UK law.
In Berlin, about 3,500 people joined a march organized by United for Palestine, setting off from a square between the chancellery and parliament. Many condemned Germany's arms exports and longstanding military support for Israel. Similar marches were held in Warsaw, Rome, Dublin and Copenhagen, where protesters denounced ongoing Israeli bombardment and their governments' ties with Israel, echoing calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire.
A ceasefire took effect a year ago, but Israel has kept striking Gaza on a near-daily basis. The attacks have killed some 1,450 Palestinians since the truce began, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.