Hamas Announces Intent to Participate in Palestinian Parliamentary Elections

Hussam Badran, a member of the Hamas political bureau, announced on Al-Aqsa TV that the organization intends to participate in the upcoming Palestinian Legislative Council elections as part of a broad national coalition. The elections are scheduled for November 28, marking the first such vote in 20 years. Badran stated that Hamas has been conducting talks with various political movements and independent candidates for approximately one month.

Badran expressed sharp criticism of the Palestinian Authority leadership under President Mahmoud Abbas. Specifically, he rejected the conditions for participation that require parties to commit to the program of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). These requirements include the recognition of Israel, a commitment to a two state solution, and a renunciation of armed resistance. Badran argued that no entity has the right to impose its own agenda on participating parties and claimed that a majority of other political movements share this view.

President Abbas recently modified the electoral laws and the structure of the legislative bodies. While there was a plan to increase the number of PLC members from 132 to 200 to align with the PLO's Palestinian National Council (PNC), Abbas later issued a decree reverting the PLC size to 132 members. Under the current plan, PLC members will automatically join the PNC to strengthen its democratic legitimacy, though 68 seats for the occupied territories will be filled via PLO agreements rather than elections.

In addition to electoral matters, Badran identified the status of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque as core issues of the conflict. He accused the Israeli government of using the war in Gaza as a pretext to change the status quo at the mosque and claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pursuing a strategy to expand Israeli control in the West Bank. He also emphasized the priority of securing the freedom of Palestinian prisoners.