The Palestinian president has said legislative elections would be held as scheduled on 25 January if Israel did not prevent the vote in East Jerusalem, and that Hamas could only participate in any future government if it recognised the Oslo peace accords. Interviewed by Aljazeera on Saturday, Mahmoud Abbas said he expects the Israeli government to accept the holding of elections in Jerusalem in accordance with the terms agreed on by the Palestinian and Israeli authorities during the 1996 vote.On the issue of Hamas's participation in the polls, Abbas said the democratic option could not be partitioned, and whoever emerges victorious in the election will become a member of the legislative council, but on the basis of the existing authority which in turn is based on the Oslo accords and the peace option.
Israel has already made clear that it will not allow campaigning in East Jerusalem by Hamas, which has carried out the majority of attacks against Israel in the past five years and refuses to recognise Israel. "Hamas is now participating in the elections according to a certain basis, and not any other basis from the past," Abbas said in the interview.