Palestinian elections

Palestinians vote during the Palestinian local elections, in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh, April 25, 2026. (Flash90)

A dubious PA election could be the political opening Palestine needs

Driven by international pressure that lets Israel off the hook, the upcoming vote still gives Palestinians a rare chance to confront an obstinate leadership.

By Omar H. Rahman August 10, 2026

Khalil Al-Hayya at the funeral of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, August 1, 2024. (Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY-4.0)

As Israel sabotages Gaza talks, Hamas’ new ‘warrior leader’ faces his first challenge

Khalil Al-Hayya is a known pragmatist. But the group’s militant wing aided his election — and it won’t accept Israel’s deliberately unworkable demands.

By Muhammad Shehada August 6, 2026

A Palestinian man casts his ballot during local elections, on the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, January 23, 2021. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

What’s at stake as Palestinians go to the polls for the first time in years

With local elections set to take place across the West Bank and one city in Gaza, residents are split as to the vote's legitimacy and potential for change.

By Shatha Yaish and Ibtisam Mahdi April 24, 2026

Latest

Palestinians take part in a protest calling for the end of the war and of Hamas' rule in Gaza, Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, March 26, 2025. (Flash90)

‘We want to live’: Rage at Israel fuses with ire at Hamas as protests rock Gaza

In the enclave's largest demonstrations in years, Palestinians called for an immediate end to the war and elections to choose a new leadership.

By Ruwaida Amer March 27, 2025

(Left to Right) Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk, Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmed, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Fatah official Ahmed Bahar attend a meeting in Gaza City, April 22, 2014. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Israeli arrogance thwarted a Palestinian political path. October 7 revealed the cost

A Fatah-Hamas agreement in 2021 offered a different political horizon. But success blinded Israel — just as it did before the 1973 war.

By Menachem Klein November 28, 2023

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas taking part in a prayer ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan, in Ramallah, West Bank, July 6, 2015. (Flash90)

Abbas is signaling a successor. But will Palestinians accept him?

The nepotistic rise of Hussein al-Sheikh, the PA's key liaison with Israel, is emblematic of much that is wrong with the Palestinian leadership.

By Omar H. Rahman June 21, 2022

Palestinians walk past a wall painted with a mural during a rally marking the 28th anniversary of Hamas' founding, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, December 14, 2015. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

‘Hamas has hijacked Gaza. All of Palestine is hijacked’

Young people from besieged Gaza are connecting with fellow Palestinians on Twitter to share their discontent and experiences of life under Hamas rule.

By Yuval Abraham February 24, 2022

Palestinians protest the death of Palestinian human rights activist Nizar Banat who died after being arrested by Palestinian Authority security forces, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on June 24, 2021. (Flash90)

The PA stumbled from one failure to another. Has its reckoning arrived?

The decades-long decline of the Fatah party has proven to Palestinians that the PA is an obstacle, not a vehicle, for their national liberation.

By Majeed Malhas July 13, 2021

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at a swearing in ceremony of the new Palestinian government, at the PA's headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah, April 13, 2019. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

From vaccines to protests, the Palestinian Authority keeps proving its irrelevance

We Palestinians have grown tired of undemocratic leaders who treat our cause as an administrative problem rather than a struggle for freedom.

By George Zeidan and Miran Khwais June 22, 2021

Palestinians holding Hamas flags as they gather after the last Friday prayer of Ramadan to protest over the possible eviction of Palestinian families from homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, May 7, 2021. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

Hamas breaks out of its Gaza cage

The Islamist movement surprised Israel and the international community when it intervened on the back of a popular uprising in Jerusalem. But some Palestinians remain wary of cooptation, says analyst Tareq Baconi.

By Amjad Iraqi May 21, 2021

The Israeli and American flags screened on the walls of Jerusalem's Old City to mark one year since the transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, May 14, 2019. (Aharon Krohn/Flash90)

‘Equality’ is finally breaching Washington’s debate on Israel-Palestine

A policy paper centering equal rights for both peoples marks a radical break from the Israel-centric discourse of mainstream U.S. think tanks.

By Mitchell Plitnick May 6, 2021

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a tour in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 15, 2020. (Flash90)

Elections or not, the PA is intensifying its authoritarian rule online

The run-up to PA elections has alarmingly shown what Palestinian political activism is facing in the digital age: more surveillance, more repression.

By Marwa Fatafta April 29, 2021

Palestinian youth protest near the Israeli fence with Gaza, southern Gaza, March 18, 2010. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash 90)

Young Palestinians are fed up with their leaders. Can elections bring change?

Facing a deepening occupation and increasing authoritarianism, young Palestinians see the first national elections in 15 years as an opportunity to overhaul their political system.

By Henriette Chacar April 22, 2021