Fatah Official Confirms Hamas Talks in Turkey and Questions Whether Palestinian Elections Will Proceed

Jibril Rajoub has confirmed that he met Hamas leaders Khalil al-Hayya and Zaher Jabarin in Turkey two weeks ago, according to the Hamas-affiliated Quds News Network. The meeting comes as uncertainty grows around Palestinian Legislative Council elections scheduled for November.

A source who spoke with the Palestinian Press Network said Rajoub also met mukhtars, or clan leaders, from the Gaza Strip. The source said he was seeking to potentially form his own alliance ahead of the election.

Rajoub told Quds that he doubted the elections would go ahead. He called instead for a meeting of all Palestinian factions, with Egyptian support, to establish a roadmap for national dialogue and reform. Such a meeting, he said, could renew legitimacy for the Palestinian political system, which he described as facing an impasse that had become an existential threat.

He said renewed Palestinian unity would be essential to establishing a Palestinian state. Rajoub also argued that the political agenda should address the refugee crisis, unify the Palestinian approach toward Israel, and define a pluralistic and democratic national identity.

Yoni Ben Menachem, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, said Hamas had met several Fatah officials in recent weeks. He said some were disappointed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s efforts to position his son, Yasser Abbas, as his successor and were considering alliances with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Menachem agreed that Abbas could again postpone the election, calling the prospect a “dangerous gamble” for Fatah because Hamas won a majority in the last PLC election in 2006, taking 74 seats.

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dangerous gamble