An unprecedented alliance challenges Palestine’s old political order

After two decades without legislative elections, the Palestinian people may finally be called upon to renew their institutions. A presidential decree has set 28 November 2026 as the date for electing the 132 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, with voting due to take place in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The central question, however, is not simply whether the elections will take place, but whether Palestinians will be free to choose their representatives — including those who defend resistance — and whether the result will be respected.

The last legislative election was held in January 2006. Hamas, standing as the Change and Reform list, won 74 seats and defeated Fatah.

Rather than recognising the popular verdict, ‘Israel’, the United States and their allies imposed sanctions and worked to undermine the government led by Ismail Haniyeh. The experience showed that, for Western powers, Palestinian democracy is acceptable only when it produces the desired result.

Since then, Palestinian political life has remained trapped between occupation, internal division and institutional erosion.

The Legislative Council ceased to function and was dissolved in 2018. No presidential election has been held since 2005. Mahmoud Abbas, originally elected to a four-year term, has remained in power for more than two decades without once again submitting his leadership to a popular vote.

This democratic vacuum explains the importance of the announced elections, but also why Abbas is one of the process’s main sources of uncertainty.

The president has accumulated a record of broken promises, postponements and reversals. In 2021, legislative and presidential elections were formally called, only to be suspended on the grounds that ‘Israel’ had not guaranteed the participation of East Jerusalem.

Although that participation is a non-negotiable right, the decision was widely interpreted as a manoeuvre to prevent a fragmented Fatah from losing to Hamas and other opposition forces.

The precedent remains. If the prospect of defeat once again threatens the group controlling the Palestinian Authority, will Abbas respect the ballot box or find another pretext to cancel the elections?

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Distrust is deepened by Mahmoud Abbas’s political isolation. A poll conducted in August 2026 found that only 20 per cent approved of his performance, while 76 per cent disapproved. No fewer than 79 per cent wanted him to resign, a figure rising to 82 per cent in the West Bank.

Moreover, 83 per cent identified corruption within Palestinian Authority institutions, while 65 per cent regarded the Authority itself as a burden rather than a national achievement. This amounts to a profound crisis of trust and legitimacy.

It is against this backdrop that the most innovative element of the process has emerged: a national political-electoral alliance in the making, bringing together Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Fatah’s reformist current, Nasser Al-Qudwa, the Nasser Salah Al-Din Brigades and other political forces and figures.

Its composition still depends on the adoption of a common programme and formal confirmation by all the prospective participants. Nevertheless, the very fact that it is being assembled already represents a historic development.

Islamist, nationalist and progressive currents, together with Fatah dissidents, are drawing closer to contest the leadership of Palestinian politics jointly. The possible participation of Islamic Jihad, traditionally detached from the institutions created by the Oslo Accords, further broadens the initiative’s significance.

This front could break the old Fatah-Hamas polarisation and form a political camp organised around national unity, institutional reconstruction and the legitimacy of resistance to the occupation.

Hamas says it is working to build the ‘broadest possible national consensus’ and has warned against any repetition of the 2021 reversal.

The alliance presents Fatah’s leadership with a decisive challenge. On one side, the movement faces fragmentation and widespread rejection of the Abbas administration. On the other, the resistance forces are building a front capable of contesting the elections beyond their traditional constituencies.

If consolidated, this coalition could profoundly alter the balance of power within the Palestinian national movement.

There is, however, an additional threat: that electoral rules may be turned into an instrument of political exclusion.

The law requires electoral lists to commit themselves to the PLO, its political programme and its international obligations. This wording could be used to pressure Hamas and other organisations into accepting the limits imposed by Oslo, recognising ‘Israel’ and abandoning armed resistance.

It would be a conditional democracy: the people are summoned to the ballot box, while the projects they are permitted to choose are determined in advance.

The official timetable continues to set 28 November as polling day.

The real test, however, will be to ensure the participation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza; prevent Israeli and foreign vetoes; guarantee the inclusion of all political forces; and respect the result — even if it dismantles the old and corrupt Abbas-led order and confirms at the ballot box the political strength of the Palestinian resistance.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.