Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Dahlan Bloc Forge Unlikely Palestinian Electoral Alliance

Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad group have agreed to form an electoral coalition with a faction led by Mohammed Dahlan, a former senior Fatah security official who was exiled in 2010 after a bitter rift with President Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian officials said.

The alliance could pose a serious challenge to the dominance of Abbas' Fatah party over the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority — but only if the first national elections in 20 years take place. Abbas has said parliamentary elections will be held on Nov. 28 in Gaza and the West Bank, though he has repeatedly delayed votes in the past, most recently in 2021 when Fatah appeared headed for defeat.

Islamic Jihad deputy Secretary General Mohammed al-Hindi confirmed the formation of the electoral alliance in an interview in Istanbul on Monday. He said the grouping would back "a unified national list" that could consist of independent figures rather than members of the factions themselves.

The coalition includes a bloc led by Dahlan, who was driven from Gaza by Hamas before his falling-out with Abbas. He has since cultivated close ties with the United Arab Emirates, where he serves as an adviser to the ruler. The UAE was the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords, and Dahlan has extensive contacts with U.S. and Israeli officials — making him an unlikely partner for Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have fought Israel for decades.

The alliance appears rooted in shared frustration with Abbas. His leadership of the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy over parts of the occupied West Bank, is deeply unpopular among Palestinians who see it as autocratic, corrupt and ineffective. The 90-year-old Abbas has remained in power since his mandate expired in 2009, while Hamas continues to control parts of Gaza three years into a brutal war with Israel.

Dimitri Diliani, a spokesperson for Dahlan's Reformist Democratic Faction, confirmed the electoral alliance in a statement that criticized Abbas' leadership, saying "the Palestinian Authority has failed Gaza and the Palestinian people everywhere." He said several other Palestinian groups are also part of the alliance and that efforts are underway to bring "all other factions and independent professionals into uniting around one national rebuilding program."

Hamas said in August that Dahlan and Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya had met in Cairo and discussed ways to "end the monopolization of national decision-making and formulate a comprehensive national strategy." Hamas and Fatah officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Al-Hindi said the decision to launch the alliance came after attempts to bring all factions together in a "dialogue for internal consensus on the overall Palestinian issue" failed to bear fruit. Multiple attempts over the years to bring Hamas and Islamic Jihad into the Fatah-led Palestine Liberation Organization, the highest body representing the Palestinian cause internationally, have all foundered. A main sticking point has been the PLO's recognition of Israel. While Hamas officials have said they are willing to accept a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem — territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war — they have stopped short of recognizing Israel, while Islamic Jihad takes a harder line.

Both groups are considered terrorist organizations by the U.S. and other Western countries, which have voiced support for Palestinian democracy over the years while rejecting any government that includes Hamas. Fatah and Hamas are by far the most popular factions, though many Palestinians are frustrated with both.

Al-Hindi said his group, which has historically not participated in elections run by the Palestinian Authority, will not directly field candidates but will "support a national list that is agreed upon."

The scheduled elections come at a precarious time. In the West Bank, attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have intensified. In Gaza, a ceasefire that took effect in October 2025 has halted the heaviest fighting, but the Israeli military has seized control of more territory and continued strikes, which it says are in response to threats.

More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 others hostage.

Under a U.S. plan for implementing the ceasefire, armed Palestinian groups were to give up their weapons while Israel would withdraw from the enclave. Al-Hindi said his group, along with Hamas, had agreed to the plan and blamed Israel for blocking it. "When Israel's obligations in the first phase (of the agreement) are achieved, we will move on to talk about the second phase, which includes the issue of weapons," he said.

Islamic Jihad took part in the Oct. 7 attack and held Israeli hostages, but al-Hindi said the group was not involved in planning the attack or given forewarning by Hamas. The night before, he said, Islamic Jihad members held a commemoration of the group's founding and many stayed up late. "In the morning, we were surprised by the media reporting what happened, but as a resistance movement, we were quick to participate in these confrontations," he said.

With tens of thousands dead, Gaza largely reduced to rubble, and most of its population displaced, al-Hindi acknowledged that "some voices began to express doubts and say, 'What has the resistance brought down on the Palestinian people?'" But he insisted the Oct. 7 attack had been necessary to prevent the plight of the Palestinians from being completely sidelined as the UAE and other Arab countries moved to normalize relations with Israel.

He also acknowledged that Iran — long a main source of support for Palestinian militant groups — is now preoccupied by the ongoing war and a U.S. economic blockade. But al-Hindi said his group will continue with or without Iranian support. "As long as there is no political horizon to solve the Palestinian issue and attempts continue to flee from the Palestinian cause in the region, the future will be resistance," he said.