Gaza City, Palestinian Territories, Feb 12 (AFP/APP): A deal reached between Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas to hold elections is aimed at renewing confidence in Palestinian governance ahead of a diplomatic push and talks with Israel, experts said.
Joe Biden’s election as US president motivated Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas of Fatah, to hold “serious” talks with Hamas, according to a Palestinian analyst. Abbas’s Palestinian Authority had cut ties with Donald Trump’s administration, accusing it of bias towards Israel, and Abbas wants to renew the legitimacy of Palestinian institutions as he re-engages with Washington, said the analyst Ashraf Abu al-Houl. In January, Abbas, whose Fatah party controls the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, announced the dates for the first Palestinian elections in 15 years.
Hamas Islamists won a surprising landslide when Palestinians last went to the polls in 2006, in a result not recognised by Fatah and which sparked deadly clashes and left Palestinian politics divided. Hamas has held power in Gaza since 2007, the year Israel imposed a blockade on the coastal enclave, while Fatah has retained control in the West Bank. At a meeting in Cairo this week, Fatah and Hamas agreed on ground rules for May 22 legislative polls and a July 31 presidential vote, seeking to avoid a repeat of damaging post-poll chaos. The deal provides for an “electoral court” with exclusive jurisdiction over the electoral process and any cases arising from the elections.
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