Awad Rjoub and Rania Abu Shamala
09 September 2025•Update: 09 September 2025
RAMALLAH, Palestine/ISTANBUL
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that preparations are underway to hold parliamentary and presidential elections within a year of the end of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
His remarks came during a meeting in London with newly appointed UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper which focused on “the latest developments in the occupied Palestinian territories and bilateral relations between the State of Palestine and the United Kingdom,” according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Abbas reiterated the current Palestinian priorities: “An immediate and permanent ceasefire, ensuring full access for humanitarian aid to Gaza, the release of hostages and prisoners, the withdrawal of occupation forces, and the launch of early recovery and reconstruction.”
He hailed “the historic decision of the UK to announce its intention to recognize the State of Palestine before the upcoming international peace conference in New York later this month,” describing it as “a corrective step to a historic injustice and an opening of a new horizon for achieving peace.”
Several other Western countries including Belgium, France, Australia and Canada are also preparing to recognize the State of Palestine during this month’s UN General Assembly meetings.
Abbas said that “any party or candidate wishing to participate in the elections must adhere to the political program and international commitments of the Palestine Liberation Organization, international legitimacy and the principle of one authority, one law, and one legitimate security force.”
In early 2021, he issued a decree to hold legislative, presidential and Palestinian National Council elections, but none have taken place to date.
In July, Abbas decided to hold Palestine National Council elections before the end of 2025, the first since its inaugural session in Jerusalem in 1964. The PLO’s Basic Law stipulates that the National Council is the organization’s supreme authority, responsible for setting its policies, plans and programs.
Abbas also discussed efforts to achieve an “immediate and permanent” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the latest developments regarding the Palestinian issue with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The meeting took place in London, where Abbas arrived Sunday for a three-day state visit, according to Wafa.
The two leaders reviewed the latest developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to bilateral relations between Palestine and the United Kingdom.
The Palestinian leader underlined the “need to halt all Israeli violations of international law, settlement expansion, settler violence and annexation policies in the West Bank, ensure the release of withheld Palestinian tax revenues (of around $3 billion), and stop assaults on Islamic and Christian holy sites.”
He expressed his “deep appreciation to Prime Minister Starmer and the significant efforts he is making for peace,” thanking him for “the British government’s continued positions in support of a sustainable ceasefire, the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, rejection of settlement expansion, settler violence and annexation, and for its serious work toward implementing the two-state solution.”
Abbas reaffirmed that “the Gaza Strip is an inseparable part of the State of Palestine, which will assume full responsibility there with Arab and international support, with the administrative committee beginning its duties immediately after the war ends.”
