Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 8, 2016
From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 8, 2016
Islamic Jihad to boycott Palestinian local elections
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleIslamic Jihad announces Monday it will boycott local Palestinian elections scheduled for October 8, calling instead for national unity.
“We will not participate in the municipal and local elections,” the group says in a statement.
The movement, which is widely seen as an ally of the Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, says the elections are not an “appropriate way out of the Palestinian national impasse.”
Instead, the group calls on Hamas to reconcile with its rival Fatah, whose leader Mahmoud Abbas heads the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.
Hamas announced last month that it would take part in the elections after boycotting the last vote four years ago.
— AFP
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