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Palestinian Officials Pressure Abbas to Postpone Elections

A banner at Al-Aqsa Mosque calls for holding elections in East Jerusalem. (Wafa)
A banner at Al-Aqsa Mosque calls for holding elections in East Jerusalem. (Wafa)
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Palestinian Officials Pressure Abbas to Postpone Elections

A banner at Al-Aqsa Mosque calls for holding elections in East Jerusalem. (Wafa)
A banner at Al-Aqsa Mosque calls for holding elections in East Jerusalem. (Wafa)

More and more Palestinian officials have stated that President Mahmoud Abbas may postpone the upcoming parliamentary elections, a move increasingly opposed by the Hamas movement and other electoral lists.

Nabil Shaath, an advisor Abbas, was among the latest officials to warn that elections are “very likely” to be delayed if Israel continues to bar voting in East Jerusalem.

A senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official told Kan 11 News on Wednesday that he believes there is a high probability that the elections, which are scheduled for May 22, will be delayed.

“Currently, there is a 90 percent chance that the election will be postponed,” the source said.

According to the report, Abbas has not yet decided on whether to postpone the polls, even after a series of discussions on the issue that took place this week in Ramallah.

Kan 11 News reported that the pressure on Abbas has increased in recent days.

Among other things, Fatah officials fear that the internal divisions within the party ahead of the polls may allow Hamas to gain a foothold that would adversely affect relations between the PA and Israel and the administration in Washington.

Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh, Head of the General Intelligence Service Major General Majed Faraj, as well as other Fatah officials and heads of the security services are among the officials pressuring Abbas, the report noted.

Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem are due to vote on May 22 ahead of a planned presidential election in July.

The Palestinian leadership is supposed to hold an expanded meeting in the next few days, headed by Abbas, to review options related to holding the polls.

So far, Palestinian officials have stated that they are committed to the elections provided that they take place throughout occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem.

“No elections without Jerusalem,” stressed Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee member Wasel Abu Youssef.

The leadership is currently waiting for the results of international efforts to pressure Israel in this regard, he told Voice of Palestine radio on Thursday.

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Türkiye Sends Massive Reinforcements to Syria’s Idlib, Aleppo

Military reinforcements on the way to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Türkiye and Syria (Turkish media)
Military reinforcements on the way to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Türkiye and Syria (Turkish media)
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Türkiye Sends Massive Reinforcements to Syria’s Idlib, Aleppo

Military reinforcements on the way to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Türkiye and Syria (Turkish media)
Military reinforcements on the way to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Türkiye and Syria (Turkish media)

Türkiye has sent massive military reinforcements to its military positions in eastern Idlib and the western Aleppo countryside, within the de-escalation zones in northwestern Syria, known as the "Putin-Erdogan" agreement zones.

A Turkish military convoy consisting of more than 75 vehicles, including troop carriers, armored vehicles transporting soldiers, and trucks loaded with logistical and military supplies, entered through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Syria and Türkiye. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Friday, these new reinforcements were distributed across Turkish military points in eastern Aleppo countryside.

This marked the second batch of Turkish reinforcements in less than 24 hours. On Thursday, the Turkish military brought in a convoy of 15 vehicles carrying weapons and soldiers, including closed trucks, accompanied by Turkish intelligence vehicles, through the Bab al-Hawa crossing. These reinforcements were directed to Turkish positions in the town of al-Atarib and its surroundings in the western Aleppo countryside.

The new reinforcements come amid ongoing attacks and targeting by the Syrian army within the de-escalation zone in Idlib.

These areas have witnessed escalating clashes and mutual attacks for over two months between Syrian forces and the Fatah al-Mubeen factions, resulting in casualties on both sides.

The Syrian Observatory recorded 346 military and civilian deaths across 307 incidents in the "Putin-Erdogan" zones since the start of 2024, including attacks, sniper operations, clashes, and armed drone strikes. More than 129 soldiers and 157 civilians, including five women and 35 children, were wounded to varying degrees.

In a related context, the village of Kabashin, in the Shirwa district of Afrin, north of Aleppo, within the Olive Branch zone controlled by Turkish forces and factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, was shelled with mortars from areas where the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian army are stationed in the northern Aleppo countryside.

The Syrian Observatory also reported attacks between the SDF and Turkish forces, along with their allied factions, on fronts in northern and eastern Aleppo countryside. On Thursday, five mortar shells landed near a Turkish base around the Abu al-Zandin crossing in eastern Aleppo’s al-Bab countryside, part of the Euphrates Shield zone under Turkish and allied factions’ control, originating from Syrian army positions in Aleppo’s countryside. The Turkish base responded to the source of the shelling with heavy artillery.

Turkish forces and factions also targeted the villages of Sheikh Issa and Harbel with heavy artillery, areas where the SDF and Syrian army are stationed in the northern Aleppo countryside.