Hamas threatens to boycott elections over arrests by PA
Sources close to terror group say threat is ‘real’; senior Hamas leader says Fatah considering delaying vote over disunity
Dov Lieber is a former Times of Israel Arab affairs correspondent.
A senior Hamas leader confirmed Monday night for the first time that the Islamist group is considering boycotting upcoming Palestinian municipal elections if the Palestinian Authority does not cease arresting its members in the West Bank.
Mahmoud al-Zahar, speaking to al Jazeera, said Hamas has many “comments about Fatah due to the continual arrests of [its] leaders in the West Bank.”
“The elections cannot take place if this issue continues,” he said.
Since Hamas – considered a terror group by Israel and most Western governments – surprisingly agreed to participate in the municipal elections slated for October 8, it has complained that its activists in the West Bank are being arrested by Palestinian Authority security forces in what it calls an attempt to influence the elections.
Fatah has made the same complaint about its representatives being arrested in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas leader also hinted for the first time that Fatah, Hamas’s rival party that controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, is now considering delaying the elections.
“There are conflicts within Fatah preventing it until now from forming lists. They cannot overcome their internal differences and are shooting at each other,” he said.
He added: “There are a lot of leaks from within the government talking about the possibility of postponing the elections.”
‘Threat is real’
Sources close to Hamas told the London-based Arabic newspaper Rai Alyoum that Hamas’s threat to boycott the elections “is real.”
According to the sources, Hamas members in Gaza and the West Bank had vowed not to allow any “political maneuvering” by Fatah before agreeing to participate in the elections.
The sources also said Hamas was particularly aggravated by the recent arrest of Nader Sawafta, a West Bank leader in the organization who also works as a supervisor for the elections and selects the Islamist group’s candidates.
Hamas reportedly relayed its frustration to the PA over the arrest of Sawafta.
According to local opinion polls and political experts, Hamas — which has been enjoying unusual popularity in the West Bank and maintains a strong base of support in Gaza — is expected to make significant gains in the upcoming elections for local councils.
The Times of Israel Community.