Islamic Jihad undecided about participating in local elections

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement has said that it is undecided about whether to participate in the local elections planned to take place in in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in October, Quds Press reported on Monday.

Member of the movement’s political bureau Nafeth Azzam said that his movement is still conducting intense internal discussions regarding this issue.

However, he called on other Palestinian factions to start forming a united national list regardless of his movement’s participation or not.

“A united national list does not widen the internal Palestinian rift,” he said, noting that the region, which Palestine is part of, has been living in a “state of polarisation.”

Azzam also said that “growing polarisation will increase the suffering of the Palestinian people and undermine the importance of the local elections, which is slated to result in leadership of local services.”

Previously, a senior Hamas figure, Khalil Al-Hayya, said that his movement is ready to go for the polls with a united national list that includes all factions.

Hamas welcomed the Palestinian ministerial council announcement that the local elections would be held on 3 October.