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The letter addressed to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated that an assessment had concluded the anticipated conditions on which the scheduling of the legislative elections for November 28, 2026 was based had not materialized. “The assessment concluded that the anticipated political, security and economic conditions, on which the scheduling of the legislative elections for 28 November 2026 was based, have not materialized,” the letter said. It added that holding them under the current circumstances faces fundamental obstacles affecting their inclusiveness, freedom of participation and the integrity of the electoral process.
The correspondence detailed how steps, understandings and promises had not materialized while conditions worsened throughout the Palestinian territory, including specific security issues in Gaza and the West Bank. Palestinian officials recommended to President Mahmoud Abbas that the date of the legislative elections be adjusted by several months and that dialogue continue to prepare the internal conditions. The letter advised Abbas to issue a decree setting the vote for the first half of September 2027.
Reuters reported that no legislative or presidential elections have been held since 2005-06. Abbas, who was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in 2005, had reaffirmed plans to hold the elections during a speech to the United Nations on September 24. France had indicated that such elections were essential for legitimacy, according to the same report.
An Associated Press report from April 2021 noted that a previous attempt to organize elections was postponed after factions cited a dispute with Israel over voting in east Jerusalem. The persistent split between Fatah and Hamas has hindered unified polls since the last legislative vote, which Hamas won. Reuters reported that there had already been serious doubts the November ballot would proceed as scheduled.
Factions had been discussing a postponement during meetings in Cairo, the Associated Press reported shortly before the letter was sent. The letter to French authorities followed those talks and outlined the Palestinian evaluation in detail. Reporting by John Irish for Reuters formed the basis for the account of the letter’s contents.
