Egyptian officials: Palestinians plan to cancel elections New election data

An Egyptian diplomat and intelligence official said the decision would be announced at a meeting of Palestinian factions on Thursday.

Egyptian officials say the Palestinian Authority intends to cancel the first election in 15 years by refusing to allow Israel to vote in occupied East Jerusalem.

The decision vetoes Israel from holding elections, although it may also be useful for President Mahmoud Abbas to cancel the vote, as his breakaway Fatah party is expected to lose power and influence in Hamas, the group that governs the Gaza Strip.

An Egyptian diplomat and an intelligence official – who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks in Cairo – said they had announced the decision, which will be announced at a meeting of Palestinian factions on Thursday.

They said Egypt is in talks with Israel to get a commitment to vote, but so far those efforts have failed.

An intelligence official has said that Hamas wants the election to go ahead, but that one faction does not want to go ahead and vote without the assurances of the international community that it will be held in occupied East Jerusalem.

The official said the factions are discussing forming a unity government that would include Hamas.

The Palestinian Electoral Commission says 6,000 voters in East Jerusalem should be sent through Israeli post offices under past agreements, and another 150,000 could vote with or without Israeli permission.

The small number of voters who need Israel’s permission is unlikely to have a decisive impact on the vote, but their participation is symbolically important in maintaining the Palestinian demands in East Jerusalem.

Israel has not said whether it will allow a vote.

They also provide an excuse for Abbas to cancel parliamentary elections in which he hopes Fatah will lose its movement badly. Fatah has split into three lists of opponents, paving the way for Hamas to become the largest parliamentary party.

‘Death to the Arabs’

Israel captured East Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza, in the 1967 war. The Palestinians want all three territories for the future state and see it as the capital of East Jerusalem.

Israel annexed the eastern sector of the city in a move that was not recognized internationally. He considers all of Jerusalem to be his capital and forbids the Palestinian Authority to operate there.

The fate of the city has been one of the most serious problems in the peace process, which was halted more than a decade ago.

Tensions have risen in Jerusalem since the arrival of far-right Israeli groups in recent days, they have persecuted Palestinians and shouted, “Death to the Arabs.”

Hundreds of Palestinians have been injured and dozens more have been arrested in days of violence.

The barricades around the Damascus Gate in the Old City walled in East Jerusalem (a popular gathering of Palestinians during the holy month of Ramadan) were also blamed for tense nights.