French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Nov. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Is the Palestinian Authority (PA) already preparing the excuses it could use to cancel its next elections, currently scheduled for November 2026?

In 2021, PA President Mahmoud Abbas canceled elections one month before election day, after repeated polls showed that Hamas was heading for a strong victory. Currently, Hamas’ popularity is still much higher than Abbas’ Fatah Party among all Palestinians, who overwhelmingly supported the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack and atrocities.

Accordingly, the remarks by Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh in a meeting with a delegation from the European External Action Service seem to be preparing them for the inevitable.

While discussing preparations for Palestinian elections, Fattouh highlighted two conditions that could conveniently make elections impossible: Gaza must participate, and Palestinians in Jerusalem must also be allowed to vote.

Fattouh stressed that the destruction in Gaza “poses a major challenge to holding any comprehensive elections,” while insisting that elections “must include” Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza.

He then reminded his European audience exactly how the PA justified canceling the elections scheduled for 2021:

Chairman of the National Council, Rawhi Fattouh, and a delegation from the European External Action Service yesterday (Tuesday) discussed the political situation, the elections, and the preparations of the institutions for holding the Palestinian elections…

Fattouh made an extensive presentation about the situation in the Gaza Strip and the humanitarian disaster and widespread destruction of all areas of life and infrastructure, which were caused by the Israeli war…

He clarified that the current situation in the Gaza Strip poses a major challenge to holding any comprehensive elections. He also emphasized that the Strip is an inseparable part of the Palestinian territories and that all Palestinian elections must include the Palestinian people in the West Bank, including in Jerusalem, and in the Gaza Strip.

Fattouh noted the elections that were supposed to take place in 2021. He explained that the Israeli occupation policy and the obstacles it set, foremost among them its refusal to ensure the holding of elections in the occupied city of Jerusalem and the participation of Jerusalem residents in them, had caused the postponement of the elections…

Regarding the participation of Palestinian forces and factions, Fattouh stressed the importance of the participation in the elections by all components of the Palestinian people, including PLO factions and other factions, in a way that ensures the widest possible participation and representation of all Palestinian political forces and streams.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sep. 2, 2026]

When Abbas last canceled elections in 2021, his excuse was that Israel was to blame due to voting arrangements in Jerusalem, where Israel exercises sovereignty. Now, as the PA again discusses elections with European officials, Jerusalem is once more being placed front and center as an essential condition, while adding Gaza as another obstacle.

After the devastation described by Fattouh himself, Gaza is unlikely to be able to hold normal elections right now, at least in the usual manner.

The PA therefore appears to be preparing the world for a familiar outcome: No elections without Gaza. No elections without Jerusalem. And, ultimately, no elections, no democracy, and a continued hold on power by Abbas and his ruling Fatah party.

Palestinian Media Watch is noting this now. If the PA eventually announces that elections must once again be postponed because Gaza or Jerusalem cannot participate, the excuse will not have appeared out of nowhere. The PA/Fatah is desperate to cling to power and appears to be preparing Europe in advance, as the EU has made democratic reform a condition for continued aid.

Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is the Founder and Director of PMW, where a version of this article first appeared.