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Leaders, members ‘angry’ at Hamas’ participation in elections

February 9, 2021 at 8:52 am

A Palestinian man shows his ink-stained finger after casting his ballot during the municipal elections in the village of Tammun, east of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on 13 May 2017. [JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images]

Leaders and members of Hamas in the occupied West Bank, besieged Gaza Strip and the diaspora are angry at the movement’s decision to participate in the general elections called for by the Palestinian Authority, Arabi21 reported.

The site quoted multiple sources within the movement as saying that the organisation’s leaders and members in the West Bank have informed the leadership that there was widespread dissatisfaction with the decision to participate, which they said had been taken in a “hurry”.

Those who spoke to Arabi21 said the Hamas members’ general dissatisfaction with the decision stems from their view that Hamas’ condition in the West Bank has not changed and its members continue to suffer from the restrictions imposed by the Palestinian Authority and Israel and it still cannot participate in any public meetings.

They also believe “the elections aim to create a new team with new legitimacy, which will strip Hamas of legitimacy and allow the new team to sign any agreement or do whatever it wants on the grounds that it is elected.”

Sources believe Hamas members in the Gaza Strip and in the diaspora consider the decision to take part in the elections to be “unwise and unbalanced”.

READ: PA must end sanctions on Gaza ahead of elections, says Hamas