Abbas postpones Palestinian elections to September 2027

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree cancelling legislative elections set for November 28, 2026, and rescheduling combined presidential and legislative elections for September 11, 2027.

Why it matters: It extends a twenty-year democratic freeze in Palestinian politics and removes an electoral deadline that had been testing factional unity.

Data as of ANSA, October 10, 2026 (article opened and read in full; translated from Italian). ANSA's source is the Palestinian agency Wafa, so the decree account and the stated reason are that side's narrative, pending independent corroboration.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree cancelling the legislative elections scheduled for November 28, 2026 and setting September 11, 2027 as the date for both presidential and legislative elections. The move followed a PLO Executive Committee decision and consultations with Palestinian factions that produced what was described as a national consensus on the obstacles Israeli measures pose to holding the vote.

No reactions were quoted in the brief announcement. Palestinians have not held national elections in two decades.

Abbas postpones Palestinian elections to September 2027

Sources