Hamas on Monday formally submitted its list of candidates for the parliamentary election to the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC).
Deposed Fatah operative Mohammed Dahlan’s group also presented its own list, called al-Mustaqbal (The Future) to the commission. Dahlan, a former Palestinian Authority security commander, is based in the United Arab Emirates.
The Hamas list is headed by Khalil al-Hayya, a member of the group’s political bureau. The list’s slogan is “Jerusalem unites us,” according to the Hamas-affiliated The Palestinian Information Center.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement that the list’s slogan “emphasizes the importance of Jerusalem and the insistence on its liberation from the Zionist enemy.”
According to Barhoum, the slogan is an “assertion that regardless of the Israeli plots, the Palestinian people will continue their struggle and resistance until the liberation of Palestine, Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The Hamas list was submitted to the offices of the CEC in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The CEC announced that 15 lists have registered so far for the parliamentary election, scheduled to take place on May 22. The deadline for submitting lists is Wednesday.
The Palestinian ruling Fatah faction is expected to present its list to the CEC in the next 48 hours.
The election for the PA presidency is scheduled to take place on July 31.
Hayya told reporters in the Gaza Strip that Hamas was expecting the CEC to approve the list.
“We are committed to the Palestinian law,” he said. “Until now, the parties are prohibited from conducting election campaigns and we have instructed our candidates to abide by the electoral law.”
Hayya said that the Hamas list consists of professionals, experts, academics, youth activists and inmates held in Israeli prisons, as well as representatives of various clans.
Palestinian sources said that the list includes Hassan Salameh, a commander of the group’s military wing, Izaddin al-Qassam.
Salameh, a resident of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, was arrested in 1996 in Hebron and sentenced to 48 life terms, plus 30 years for his role in a series of suicide bombings in Israel.
Another Hamas candidate, the sources said, is Nael Barghouti, the longest-serving inmate in Israeli prison. Barghouti, a resident of Kobar village in the West Bank, was arrested in 1978 and sentenced to life in prison for his role in terrorist attacks.
After spending 34 consecutive years in prison, he was released in the 2011 Gilad Schalit prisoner exchange deal. In 2014, Barghouti was rearrested for violating the terms of the prisoner swap and sent back to prison to serve his sentence.
According to the sources, another candidate on the Hamas list is Jamal Abu al-Hayja, a senior operative of the group from Jenin who has been in Israeli prison since 2002.
Hayja, a commander of Izaddin al-Qassam in the Jenin refugee camp, was sentenced to nine life terms, plus 20 years for carrying out several terrorist attacks against Israel.