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Palestinian Factions Kick off Talks on Elections in Cairo

Palestinians walk through rows of greenhouses on "Land Day" during which people notably plant olive trees on March 29, 2014 near the Israeli border in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza. (AFP)
Palestinians walk through rows of greenhouses on "Land Day" during which people notably plant olive trees on March 29, 2014 near the Israeli border in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza. (AFP)
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Palestinian Factions Kick off Talks on Elections in Cairo

Palestinians walk through rows of greenhouses on "Land Day" during which people notably plant olive trees on March 29, 2014 near the Israeli border in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza. (AFP)
Palestinians walk through rows of greenhouses on "Land Day" during which people notably plant olive trees on March 29, 2014 near the Israeli border in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza. (AFP)

Palestinian factions began arriving in the Egyptian capital on Saturday, ahead of launching national dialogue on the Palestinian general elections scheduled for May.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) announced that Fahd Suleiman, the Front’s deputy secretary-general, will head its delegation.

It also includes members of the political bureau Khaled Atta from Damascus, Majda al-Masri from the West Bank and Ziad Jarghoun from the Gaza Strip.

The delegation is scheduled to hold consultations with other delegations arriving in Cairo in line with efforts to “reach political, procedural and legal consensus that would ensure overcoming obstacles that hinder people’s right to participate in the polls,” the DFLP said.

“This would pave the way to ending the division and rebuilding national institutions in the Palestinian Authority and PLO, based on the outcomes of the previous rounds of dialogue.”

All the factions are supposed to arrive by Sunday ahead of the dialogue scheduled to begin on Monday.

This dialogue is significant because it proves the possibility of actually agreeing to hold the elections on time.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed on Jan.15 a decree setting legislative elections for May 22 and a presidential vote on July 31, in what would be the first Palestinian polls in 15 years.

Each faction is set to present its concerns and demands for holding the elections.

Consensus between the Fatah and Hamas movements will top the talks because any disagreement may force Hamas to hinder Gaza, which it controls.

Several issues are on the table, including which political authority would serve as a reference in the elections. They will also address the electoral court, while a major dispute revolves around the Constitutional Court.

Fatah is insisting on the formation of the court, while Hamas is opposed to it.

The movement wants to exclude the Constitutional Court from the process and form an electoral court through consensus.

Security will also be discussed. Fatah wants to ensure the integrity of the electoral process in Gaza and determine which of the security services will monitor it.

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Arab World

Palestinian President Welcomes Joint International Statement Rejecting E1 Settlement Plan

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a press conference in Ankara on Wednesday (EPA)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a press conference in Ankara on Wednesday (EPA)
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Palestinian President Welcomes Joint International Statement Rejecting E1 Settlement Plan

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a press conference in Ankara on Wednesday (EPA)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a press conference in Ankara on Wednesday (EPA)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed a joint statement issued by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, and Norway rejecting the Israeli occupation government's continuation of the E1 settlement plan and demanding an immediate halt to settlement expansion across the occupied West Bank.

Abbas called on the Israeli occupation government to immediately cancel the plan, stressing that severing the northern West Bank from its southern territory and isolating East Jerusalem constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, particularly UN Security Council Resolution 2334, and undermines the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, SPA reported.

The Palestinian president urged the signatory nations, the European Union, the UN Security Council, and the international community to translate their positions into concrete measures to halt settlement activities and to refuse recognition of any unlawful changes imposed on occupied Palestinian land.

Arab World

UN Warns 94% of Gaza's Population Urgently Needs Shelter and Basic Aid

People stand at a site destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, August 18, 2026. (Reuters)
People stand at a site destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, August 18, 2026. (Reuters)
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UN Warns 94% of Gaza's Population Urgently Needs Shelter and Basic Aid

People stand at a site destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, August 18, 2026. (Reuters)
People stand at a site destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, August 18, 2026. (Reuters)

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that civilians in the Gaza Strip continue to face severe risks from airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire, reporting ongoing casualties, including child deaths, SPA reported.

OCHA stated that the remains of 50 people, including 19 children, were recently recovered and buried after being discovered under rubble in Gaza City, where they had remained trapped for over two years, SPA reported.

The office highlighted that 94% of Gaza's 2.1 million residents require urgent shelter and basic household assistance, with nearly two-thirds of families enduring rapidly deteriorating conditions in tents or temporary shelters.

Arab World

Israeli Forces Shoot Dead Palestinian Man in West Bank Raid

The wife of 58-year-old Fathi Khazem, who was killed by the Israeli military as they tried to arrest him, stands at the bedroom door near a pool of his blood at their home in the northern city of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank on August 21, 2026. (AFP)
The wife of 58-year-old Fathi Khazem, who was killed by the Israeli military as they tried to arrest him, stands at the bedroom door near a pool of his blood at their home in the northern city of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank on August 21, 2026. (AFP)
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Israeli Forces Shoot Dead Palestinian Man in West Bank Raid

The wife of 58-year-old Fathi Khazem, who was killed by the Israeli military as they tried to arrest him, stands at the bedroom door near a pool of his blood at their home in the northern city of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank on August 21, 2026. (AFP)
The wife of 58-year-old Fathi Khazem, who was killed by the Israeli military as they tried to arrest him, stands at the bedroom door near a pool of his blood at their home in the northern city of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank on August 21, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man on Friday in the city of Jenin, in the north of the occupied West Bank, with the military saying he had attempted to stab a soldier.

Fathi Zidan Hazem, 58, "died from injuries sustained after being shot by Israeli forces early Friday in the city of Jenin," the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement, adding that his body was being withheld by Israel.

The Israeli military said a "terrorist armed with a knife attempted to stab an Israeli soldier" while troops were operating in the area of Jenin.

"The soldiers responded by firing toward the terrorist and eliminating him," it said, adding no injuries were reported among troops.

Hazem was a retired colonel in the Palestinian National Security Forces.

In April 2022, after his son, Raad Hazem, carried out a shooting spree in Tel Aviv in which he killed three Israelis and wounded several others, Israeli authorities demanded that Fathi Hazem hand himself in.

His son was shot dead by Israeli forces after a massive manhunt.

A second son, Abdul Rahman Hazem, was killed during an Israeli military raid targeting alleged militants in the Jenin refugee camp in September 2022.

AFP footage from the scene on Friday showed a pool of blood and bullets scattered among groceries in the family's home.

A Palestinian eyewitness, who declined to give her name to AFP, said Israeli forces raided her neighbor's house in the early hours and told Hazem to raise his hands, which he refused to do.

"He then attacked them with a knife, and they shot him seven times in front of his 10-year-old son. They dragged him down the stairs and took him with them," she said.

Violence in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has surged since the Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Since then, at least 1,098 Palestinians, including fighters, have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers, according to Palestinian figures.

Official Israeli data shows that at least 48 Israelis, both civilians and security personnel, have been killed in attacks by Palestinians or during Israeli military operations.