Hamas Rejects Idea of Postponing Palestinian Elections

FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2020, file photo, masked Hamas militants wave their national flags during a protest in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2020, file photo, masked Hamas militants wave their national flags during a protest in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)
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Hamas Rejects Idea of Postponing Palestinian Elections

FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2020, file photo, masked Hamas militants wave their national flags during a protest in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2020, file photo, masked Hamas militants wave their national flags during a protest in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)

Palestinian Hamas group has rejected the idea of postponing elections ahead of a leadership meeting Thursday in which President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party is expected to push for a delay, citing a dispute with Israel over voting in east Jerusalem.

Hamas is expected to perform well in the May 22 parliamentary elections because of widening divisions within Fatah.

Seizing on the sensitive issue of voting in east Jerusalem could offer a pretext for Abbas to call off the first Palestinians elections in 15 years, The Associated Press reported.

Israel has not said whether it will allow voting in east Jerusalem but has expressed concern about Hamas' growing strength. Israel and Western countries view Hamas as a terrorist group and would likely boycott any Palestinian government that includes it.

In a statement issued late Wednesday, Hamas said voting is a “fundamental national right.”

Hamas said voting must take place in east Jerusalem but rejected the idea that it required Israel's permission. Instead, it called for the leadership to explore ways of “forcing the elections in Jerusalem without the permission of or coordination with the occupation.”

It also issued a veiled warning to Abbas without mentioning him by name, saying Hamas “will not be party to any postponement or cancellation and will not provide cover.”

The responsibility for any such decision “will rest with those who take it in response to the veto of the occupation," it said.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza, in the 1967 war, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally and views the entire city as its capital, barring the Palestinian Authority from operating there. The Palestinians consider east Jerusalem their capital.

According to interim peace agreements reached in the 1990s — which were rejected by Hamas — some 6,000 Palestinians in east Jerusalem submit their ballots through Israeli post offices. The other 150,000 can vote with or without Israel's permission.

Fatah has said the elections cannot be held without Israel giving express permission for east Jerusalem residents to vote. Its opponents have called for creative solutions, such as setting up ballot boxes in schools or religious sites.

The dispute has taken on greater import since the start of the holy month of Ramadan, as Muslim worshipers have clashed with Israeli police over restrictions on gatherings.

Abbas is expected to make a final decision following a meeting with leaders of Hamas and other factions late Thursday.

The elections, and a presidential vote planned for July 31, offer a rare opportunity for the Palestinians to empower a new leadership and potentially chart a different course in their stalled, decades-long struggle for independence.

The last elections, held in 2006, saw Hamas win a landslide victory after campaigning as a scrappy underdog untainted by corruption. That sparked an internal crisis culminating in Hamas' seizure of Gaza the following year, which confined Abbas' authority to parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Hamas' popularity has fallen in the years since, as conditions in Gaza have steadily deteriorated. But it has remained unified and disciplined even as Fatah has split into three rival parliamentary lists.

Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist and has fought three wars with it since seizing control of Gaza. It has also carried out scores of attacks over the last three decades that have killed hundreds of Israeli civilians.



Bodies of Eight Red Crescent Medics Recovered in Gaza, One Still Missing

Members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces, during a funeral procession at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2025. (AFP)
Members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces, during a funeral procession at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2025. (AFP)
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Bodies of Eight Red Crescent Medics Recovered in Gaza, One Still Missing

Members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces, during a funeral procession at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2025. (AFP)
Members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces, during a funeral procession at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2025. (AFP)

The bodies of eight Palestine Red Crescent medics who came under fire in Gaza just over a week ago have been recovered, though a ninth worker is still unaccounted for, the Red Cross said.

In a statement late on Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was "appalled" at the deaths.

"Their bodies were identified today and have been recovered for dignified burial. These staff and volunteers were risking their own lives to provide support to others," it said.

The Palestine Red Crescent said it also recovered the bodies of six civil defense members and one UN employee from the same area. It said Israeli forces had targeted the workers. Red Cross statements did not apportion blame for the attacks.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said one worker from the nine-strong Red Crescent group was still unaccounted for. The group went missing on March 23.

The Israeli military said on Monday that an inquiry had found that on March 23, troops opened fire on a group of vehicles that included ambulances and fire trucks when the vehicles approached a position without prior coordination and without headlights or emergency signals.

It said several fighters belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups were killed.

"The Israeli army condemns the repeated use of civilian infrastructure by the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, including the use of medical facilities and ambulances for terrorist purposes," it said in a statement.

It did not comment directly on the deaths of the Red Cross workers.

The incident was the single most deadly attack on Red Cross Red Crescent workers anywhere since 2017, the IFRC said.

"I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians," said IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain.

"They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked," he added.

According to the United Nations, at least 1,060 healthcare workers have been killed in the 18 months since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

The global body is reducing its international staff in Gaza by a third due to staff safety concerns.