Groups that have long been rivals in Palestinian politics have moved towards a remarkable alliance ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections.
According to Palestinian officials speaking to The Associated Press, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement reached an agreement with the Democratic Reform group led by Mohammed Dahlan, a former security chief of the Fatah movement, on the creation of a joint electoral list.
Muhammed Dahlan, who is on Türkiye's 'most wanted' list, is accused of financing the July 15 coup attempt, mediating between the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and carrying out espionage activities.
Dahlan has been in the red category on the Ministry of Internal Affairs' Wanted List for Terrorism since December 13, 2019.
ISLAMIC JIHAD LEADER CONFIRMED 'IN ISTANBUL'
Mohammed al-Hindi, Deputy Secretary General of Islamic Jihad, confirmed the alliance in an interview with the AP in Istanbul.
Hindi said the alliance would support a "common national list" that could include independent figures, not directly from party cadres. He stated that Islamic Jihad will not directly nominate its own candidates and will support the list to be agreed upon.
The inclusion of Mohammed Dahlan's group in this alliance was one of the most striking developments in Palestinian politics.
Dahlan was in the past one of the leading figures of Fatah's security structure in Gaza. After a bitter disagreement with Mahmud Abbas, he was removed from Fatah and later lived in the United Arab Emirates.
Dahlan has close relations with the UAE administration and is known to be a consultant in Abu Dhabi. On the other hand, the fact that Hamas and Dahlan have had serious conflicts in Gaza in the past makes the alliance that is being established even more remarkable.
Hamas announced that in August, Dahlan and Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya met in Cairo and exchanged views on "ending the monopolization of the national decision-making mechanism" in Palestinian politics.
FATIH HAS POLITICAL SUPERIORITY
It is stated that the main political common denominator of the new alliance is the opposition to the Mahmud Abbas administration.
Dimitri Diliani, spokesman for Dahlan's Democratic Reform Movement, told the AP that the groups are trying to prepare a broad list that transcends their political differences.
Diliani stated that it is aimed to bring together other Palestinian groups and independent figures around the "national reconstruction program".
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that parliamentary elections will be held in Gaza and the occupied West Bank on November 28. If this election takes place, it will be the first national parliamentary election in Palestine in nearly 20 years.
VIOLENCE CONTINUES IN GAZA AND THE WEST BANK
The planned elections come at a time when security conditions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank are extremely fragile.
Although the ceasefire that came into force in Gaza in October 2025 has reduced the most intense clashes, the Israeli army's attacks and military presence continue. It is reported that there has been an increase in attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Islamic Jihad director Hindi argued that the organization accepted the ceasefire plan with Hamas, but Israel did not fulfill its obligations.
Hindi also claimed that Islamic Jihad was not involved in the planning of the October 7, 2023 attack and that they were not informed of Hamas' attack in advance.
WANTED ON THE 'RED LIST' IN Türkiye
Muhammed Dahlan was added to the "Red Category" on the Terrorist Wanted List in 2019 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Turkey on charges of "collaborating with FETO/PDY, financing the July 15 coup attempt, attempting to change the constitutional order and espionage".
Dahlan is wanted for the following crimes:
"To carry out the July 15 coup attempt with the FETO/PDY armed terrorist organization, to attempt to change the constitutional order by force, to disclose confidential information regarding the security of the state for the purpose of espionage, to obtain confidential information of the state for the purpose of political or military espionage, to disclose confidential information regarding the security and political benefits of the state and to engage in international espionage."
WHO IS MUHAMMED DAHLAN?
Born in 1961 in the town of Khan Younis, located in the south of the Gaza Strip, Muhammed Dahlan stood out in the Fatah Movement at a young age.
Dahlan, who became the head of the 20 thousand-person Palestine Preventive Force established in Gaza after the Oslo Agreement in 1993 and entered into constant contact with the CIA and Israeli intelligence services, began to compete with Yasser Arafat.
Gaza began to be called 'Dahlanistan' due to the claims that the preventive force led by Dahlan tortured Hamas members in prison and the power it gained.
The allegations against Palestine's most controversial name that he "embezzled nearly one million shekels (approximately one million TL) from the revenues obtained from the border crossing point" were not the first corruption accusations made against Dahlan.
Middle East Eye Editor-in-Chief David Hearst wrote on July 29, 2016 that Muhammed Dahlan provided financial aid to FETO leader terrorist F. Gülen before the coup attempt. Dahlan denied the allegations.
The TV channel founded by Muhammed Dahlan in Egypt had interviewed the leader of the terrorist organization FETO.
