Hamas, PIJ, Mohammed Dahlan form electoral coalition despite Hamas pledge to cede Gaza rule

Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the exiled leader of Fatah’s Democratic Reform Current, Mohammed Dahlan, have formed an electoral alliance to run in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in November, PIJ Deputy Secretary General Mohammed al-Hindi confirmed to the Associated Press.

The confirmation comes weeks after Dimitri Dilliani, a spokesperson for Dahlan, told The Jerusalem Post that the UAE-based Palestinian politician was working to unify the factions ahead of the elections.

Al-Hindi claimed the terrorist organization would support “a unified national list” made up of independent figures rather than members of the groups. The PIJ has not historically participated in elections run by the Palestinian Authority, but Al-Hindi claimed the group would “support a national list that is agreed upon.”

Trump’s 20-point plan stipulated that Hamas would have no role in governing Gaza and would disarm. Hamas subsequently agreed to relinquish governance, though implementation of the plan’s disarmament provisions remains contested. Hamas political leader Khalil al-Hayya, however, affirmed to Al Araby TV earlier this week that the group had planned to run in the November elections.

Coalition would allow Hamas to commit to PLO but retain 'resistance ideology'

Prof. Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and the Misgav Institute, previously told the Post that forming a list with Dahlan, and creating a new coalition outside of the official Hamas movement, would allow the group to accept the Palestinian Authority’s terms for running in the election, without giving up the resistance ideology at the core of its belief system.

Candidates are required to commit to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, as well as its political and national program and relevant international resolutions. The PLO recognizes Israel, something Hamas has historically rejected.

Diliani, who repeated his comments to AP to the Post, did not confirm the reported alliance, though he stopped short of denying it, acknowledging that multiple Palestinian factions are creating a unified list.

The reported alliance comes after years of tension between Dahlan and Hamas, and Dahlan and the Palestinian Authority. The first head of the PA’s Preventive Security Service, he spent years battling Hamas and, according to an exclusive report by Vanity Fair, was involved in a Bush administration-backed plot to oust the group from Gaza in 2008.

Dahlan was removed from his position in Khan Yunis, where he was born, following Hamas’s violent takeover of the Gaza Strip. After years of political confrontation, Dahlan also eventually left the West Bank amid allegations from officials within his own Fatah party.

Following a leaked recording in which Dahlan criticized Abbas and his sons, the PA brought a series of allegations against him, including that he had attempted to mount a coup against Abbas, been involved in the circumstances surrounding Yasser Arafat’s death, and embezzled approximately $16 million in public funds.

Despite the apparent years of conflict, Dahlan wrote in a vision statement shared exclusively with the Post last month that “We want our entire relationship to move from an attempt to weaken one another to cooperation in building the homeland and protecting the national project...”