Palestinian factions explore broad alliance for November elections

Hamas and other Palestinian political factions opposed to the ruling Fatah government of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are exploring the formation of a broad electoral coalition before historic polls late this year.

Husam Badran, the national relations official for Hamas, told Al Jazeera that the movement has recently held bilateral and collective meetings with groups that include Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the National Initiative and Democratic Reform, the Mohammed Dahlan-led breakaway Fatah faction. Dahlan and Democratic Reform have previously been firm critics of Hamas.

Abbas in a July 9 decree called for Palestinian legislative elections to be held on November 28. They would mark the first such vote since January 2006. Campaigning is set to launch on November 6 despite ongoing complexities, including Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, escalating violence in the occupied West Bank and Israeli restrictions in occupied East Jerusalem.

But before formal campaigning, major Palestinian factions have begun political manoeuvring, according to factional leaders and political analysts.

Hamas seeks broad bloc

Hamas has decided to participate in the elections but prefers to run within the widest possible national bloc, Badran said.

He added that Hamas’s decision to contest the elections and the political moves it chooses to make would not be influenced by potential Israeli objections to the movement’s participation in the vote.

“We do not need permission or a guarantee from any party to participate in the Palestinian elections. This is an inherent right for all factions,” Badran said.

Fatah rejects joint list

Conversely, the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, as Fatah is formally known, is preparing to enter the race on its own.

Munther al-Hayek, a spokesperson for Fatah, told Al Jazeera the “organisational bases of the Fatah movement refuse to participate with Hamas in a single list while the door remains open to alliances with the rest of the factions”.

Nevertheless, al-Hayek described the upcoming elections as aimed at unifying the Palestinian political system.

He noted that the elections were taking place within the framework of existing agreements, adding that Abbas had formed a committee to engage in dialogue with different factions to facilitate the electoral process across all Palestinian territories, including in the Gaza Strip.

Dahlan and Barghouti

The Democratic Reform current, led by Dahlan, has emerged as a key player in shaping any potential coalition list.

Osama al-Farra, a leader in the faction, revealed to Al Jazeera that a delegation led by Dahlan held a meeting on Monday with a Hamas delegation headed by Khalil al-Hayya.

Al-Farra confirmed that Democratic Reform decided to participate in the legislative elections, favouring the formation of a “broad national alliance” comprising factions, professionals and community figures.

Dahlan, a native of Gaza’s Khan Younis refugee camp, served as Gaza security chief under Yasser Arafat in the 1990s when his crackdowns on Hamas activists led some to call the enclave “Dahlanistan“.

Although he was once a bitter enemy of Hamas and was eventually expelled from Fatah by Abbas in 2011, the Abu Dhabi-based exile and Hamas have recently found common ground, united by their mutual opposition to the Palestinian Authority president.

He stressed that any agreed-upon list of candidates “will not be against anyone”.

Al-Farra highlighted that the name of long-imprisoned leader Marwan Barghouti frequently emerges during discussions among the factions on the potential alliance’s presidential candidate due to his mass appeal and expected ability to lead a unifying project.

Al-Farra warned against the separation of legislative and presidential elections and expressed concern over a repeat of what happened in 2021 when elections were cancelled at the last minute. Abbas abruptly postponed both the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2021, citing Israeli voting restrictions in East Jerusalem. In this year’s decree, Abbas called specifically for legislative polls without scheduling a concurrent presidential vote.

Shifting political map

Political analyst and writer Ahmed al-Tanani believes the idea of a coalition list is a priority for several opposition forces but warned that its success depends on transforming into a “broad national programme” to restructure the political system rather than remaining a temporary electoral alliance.

Al-Tanani told Al Jazeera that Abbas’s call for legislative elections without a concurrent presidential one essentially targets a “formal renewal of the [Palestinian] Authority’s legitimacy” in response to international pressures.

Al-Tanani noted that the participation of Hamas, the PFLP and Dahlan’s faction has disrupted calculations of those in the Palestinian political spectrum who were betting on an opposition boycott.

This shifting dynamic is reflected in recent indicators of popular support.

According to polling data, Barghouti leads a hypothetical presidential race with 54 percent support, followed by al-Hayya at 26 percent and Abbas at 14 percent.

Furthermore, 28 percent of respondents believed Hamas is the most deserving to lead the Palestinian people, compared with 21 percent for Fatah under Abbas’s leadership, suggesting that no one faction holds broad sway over the popular mood.