On October 11, 2026, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that national elections, which had been slated for the coming months, would be postponed.
The same day, France's Foreign Ministry, the Quai d'Orsay, issued a formal statement criticizing the decision. It said the postponement denies the Palestinian people their right to democratic expression.
🇵🇸🇫🇷 The first Palestinian election in 20 years could be put on hold. When France recognized Palestine in 2025, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas promised to hold elections in return. Now officials have told France they’re recommending the November 28 vote wait until September 2027, since the improvements they expected under Trump’s Gaza plan never came. That includes foreign troops in Gaza, Hamas disarming, Israeli troops pulling out and nearly $7 billion Israel is still holding. France still wants the vote, but Palestinian officials would rather wait for things to improve. Abbas’s term ran out in 2009, so one more year without a vote would be nothing new. Source: Reuters / Writer: Daniyal
The Quai d'Orsay declared: "Twenty years after the last national election in Palestine, five years after the postponement of the legislative elections scheduled for 2021, this decision once again deprives the Palestinian people of the right to express themselves democratically at the ballot box."
It also noted that legislative elections originally planned for 2021 had already been postponed, and that delay has now persisted for five years.
The statement pointed out that it has been twenty years since the last national election took place in Palestine.
Report: Hussein Al-Sheikh, deputy chairman of the Palestinian Authority, informed France that the legislative election for the Palestinian Authority would be delayed by several months, according to a letter seen by Reuters. https://t.co/GcSnHZLeid
It also noted that legislative elections originally planned for 2021 had already been postponed, and that delay has now persisted for five years.
France argued that democratic renewal in Palestine is inseparable from preserving the two-state solution.
2025: Australia, Canada, and France recognize the “State of Palestine” because Mahmoud Abbas promises elections in 2026 2026: Mahmoud Abbas postpones the elections (again) until 2027 (maybe) Abbas lied. Derecognize Palestine. https://t.co/zmFvm86vin
The French statement criticized the decision to postpone elections.