Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Dahlan Faction Plan Joint List as Election Delay Looms
A Hamas source says the alliance intends to file on Tuesday, 13 October. A separate report points to a delay in the election scheduled for 28 November.
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Mohammed Dahlan's faction plan to contest Palestinian legislative elections together, according to a Hamas source quoted by Al Araby TV in a report reproduced by Felesteen on 9 October 2026. The source said their list would be submitted simultaneously in Gaza and Judea and Samaria on Tuesday morning, 13 October.
The announcement comes as Reuters reports that Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh has informed France that the election planned for 28 November will be postponed for several months. The competing developments leave the proposed alliance preparing a nomination while the vote's political timetable is in doubt.
A joint list, not an accepted nomination
The Hamas source described an alliance bringing together the two terrorist organizations and the Reformist Current in Fatah associated with Dahlan. The report concerns an intention to submit a list, not a ruling by the Central Elections Commission accepting its candidates.
It also said Hamas had told the Palestinian Authority and Fatah during Cairo meetings that it rejected postponement without national consensus. No independently authenticated joint declaration from all three participants or commission acceptance of this particular list was available in the material reviewed.
Earlier Al Araby reporting had described broader alliance discussions involving other Palestinian figures and groups. The latest report names the three central participants, but provides neither a final candidate roster nor a confirmed allocation of places among them.
The official calendar says 13 October
The Central Elections Commission's published calendar lists nominations from 26 September through 13 October 2026 and voting on 28 November. That makes the Tuesday mentioned by the source 13 October, rather than an unspecified future deadline.
The commission says the election was called by a presidential decree issued on 9 July and is governed by the 2007 general elections law and its amendments. Its information page identifies 132 seats in the Legislative Council and places responsibility for administering the process with the commission.
Those published dates describe the existing administrative schedule. They do not resolve the separate political decision on postponement reported on the same day.
A delay reported to France
Reuters said it had seen a letter dated 8 October from al-Sheikh to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot explaining that the political, security and economic conditions anticipated when the vote was scheduled had not materialized. It reported a postponement of several months, rather than a new fixed polling date.
Palestinians last held a presidential election in 2005 and legislative elections in 2006. Hamas's takeover of Gaza in 2007 deepened the division with Fatah, making a proposed partnership with Dahlan's camp a significant political realignment.
For now, the immediate test is whether the alliance files its list and what the electoral authorities announce about the timetable. A reported plan to compete does not settle whether or when voters will cast ballots.
