2006 Palestinian legislative election

1 month ago - Legislative elections were held ... The result was a victory for Hamas, contesting under the list name of Change and Reform, which received 44.45% of the vote and won 74 of the 132 seats, whilst the ruling Fatah received 41.43% of the vote and won 45 seats....

In a landmark 2006 election, the Palestinians rejected the long-standing political status quo and turned over power to Islamists through the ballot box. It was a stunning upset. Hamas trumped Fatah, the party of Yasser Arafat, which had dominated ...

3 days ago - Tensions between Fatah and Hamas began to rise in 2005 after the death of Yasser Arafat in November 2004. After the legislative election on 25 January 2006, which resulted in a Hamas victory, relations were marked by sporadic factional fighting. This became more intense after the two parties ...

July 15, 2024 - January’s remarkably free and affair parliamentary elections broke the PLO’s long-standing monopoly over Palestinian politics. As future free elections unfold, the prospects for a multiparty system await testing through the creation of a third option that is distinct from what Fatah or Hamas represents.

With Sinwar secure and his partnership with Aruri intact, Hamas is poised to enter the election unified and disciplined. Fatah’s current disunity is conjuring bad memories of its defeat in the 2006 PLC elections.

February 9, 2021 - Illustrative: Senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, attends by video conference a meeting with deputy Hamas chief Saleh al-Arouri (unseen) on July 2, 2020. (Abbas Momani/AFP) Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said in a statement that all sides have agreed on procedures for establishing an independent election court and securing free and fair elections.

Later, the changes in the international context cut funding from the Arab world and the development finally led isolated Hamas to a reconciliation deal with Fatah in 2017. ... The elections of 2006 were the second time Palestinians elected members to the Palestine Legislative Council[3]; the previous general election had taken place in 1996 followed by several postponements of further elections.[4] There were a lot of tension already before the elections took place.

This article examines the lead-up to the recent Palestinian legislative elections, looking especially at the Fatah's long-brewing internal crisis, born of Fatah’s inability to reconcile its role as a national liberation movement with that as ruling party of the Palestinian Authority. The author assesses the impact of the new reality presented by Hamas’s victory on Hamas, Fatah, and the international community, specifically addressing the post-election strategy put forward by certain Fatah elements, and backed by the United States, to undermine Hamas's victory by shifting power away from the Hamas-dominated legislative branch to the executive under the presidency of Mahmud Abbas.

A convincing victory for Hamas in the 2006 elections triggered a crisis that culminated in a mini-civil war in 2007, leaving Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority in control of parts of the West Bank.

September 17, 2021 - But the national movement formally split—politically, geographically and strategically—after Hamas, an Islamist party, beat Fatah, a secular movement, in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections.

First, Hamas long rejected the Oslo Accords and the negotiation process and, as a result of this rejection, Fatah carried out a violent crackdown on Hamas in the mid-1990s in the belief that such measures were needed to ensure the viability of the negotiations process. Palestinian popular support for Hamas grew as the ‘peace process’ floundered, culminating in Fatah’s defeat in the PA general elections in 2006.

The international community’s rejection of the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary election results played the most significant role in deepening the political rift between Fatah and Hamas. The UN QuartetFootnote7 and broader international community responded to Hamas’s victory by announcing a set of conditions that would have to be met for the election results to be recognized.

In light of the Fatah movement’s fragmentation, Hamas holds a clear advantage in potential legislative elections, as shown by public opinion polls indicating a likely landslide victory.

October 12, 2017 - Hamas has been the de facto ruler in the Gaza Strip since 2007, after defeating President Mahmoud Abbas’ long dominant Fatah party in parliamentary elections.

August 1, 2025 - Tensions between Fatah and Hamas have dominated Palestinian politics since 2006, when Hamas was victorious in the Palestinian Authority’s last parliamentary elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, ending the era of Fatah’s dominance.

3 days ago - The 2006 Palestinian legislative election took place on 25 January 2006 and was assessed by international observers as free and fair. It resulted in a Hamas victory, surprising Israel and the United States, which had expected Fatah to retain power.

November 28, 2023 - In February and March 2021, Fatah and Hamas, the two rival Palestinian political parties, reached an agreement to hold elections for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority, its Legislative Council, and Hamas’ entry into the Palestine ...

Fatah’s electoral setback by districts gave all of the 9 seats to Hamas in Hebron and only retained 6 seats of the 5 Gaza electoral districts – half of them in Rafah — accounting for 25%, while Hamas won 15 and 3 went to the Independents); the ...

In 1996, following the return of ... Process, elections were held. Fatah won a majority of the vote and became the dominant political party until 2006 when Hamas won the parliamentary elections....

ON 25 JANUARY 2006, candidates fielded by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) won 72 seats in the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) 132-member parliament. The result is little short of epochal. For the first time since taking over the reins of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in ...