Blinken says Abbas delayed elections over fears of Hamas win

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he speculates that fears of Hamas win in the elections scheduled for last month played a role in PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to delay the vote indefinitely.

During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Blinken said at the start that the reason Abbas gave for canceling the vote was Israel’s refusal to allow for the elections to take place in the eastern part of Jerusalem.

However, Blinken added, he would “certainly suspect that part of [Abbas’s] calculation is concern that Hamas would do well in elections.”

Israeli media claimed that Israeli officials sent messages to the Palestinian Authority rejecting to allow for the elections to take place in the eastern part of Jerusalem.

The remarks appeared to be the most detailed comments the Biden administration has given on the issue of Palestinian elections.