Abbas said during a press conference with visiting East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta at Ramallah’s presidential compound that the elections should include all Palestinian territories.
“We cannot hold the elections if the Hamas movement does not allow holding them in the coastal enclave,” he said.
Abbas said the Palestinian leadership decided to hold elections “to end the internal split.”
On Saturday, the Palestinian leadership decided to hold presidential and parliamentary elections by September in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Hamas responded by declaring that it won’t allow the vote to take place in Gaza.
Sami Abu Zuhri, the Gaza-based Hamas spokesman, said his movement rejects the call to hold the elections “before ending the current split between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” adding, “Hamas is still sticking to the principle of holding the elections.”
Abbas’ remarks came as a senior Fatah official said that secret negotiations have been going on between the rival movements.
Nabil Sha’ath, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, said in a press statement Hamas was prepared to compromise to achieve a national reconciliation agreement.
Sha’ath said his movement was prepared to accept Hamas’ reservations on the document prepared by Egyptian negotiators on uniting the two movements.
Both movements held talks in September 2010 in Damascus, in which they confirmed to launch practical steps to end the rift.
A series of attempts at reconciliation, mainly mediated by Egypt, have failed with Fatah and Hamas accusing each other of undermining trust by persecuting political rivals in the territory under its control.
