GAZA CITY, Palestine

Palestinian group Hamas has accused rival Fatah movement and the Palestinian Authority (PA) of evading elections.

In a statement, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum described the position of PA President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas on the polls as "negative" and "disappointing".

"PA used the vote issue as a maneuver to evade requirements for healing the [Palestinian] rift and cut off the road to the positive atmosphere and opportunities for reforming the Palestinian political system in order to gain more time in hopes of getting out of its current predicament," he said.

He said Hamas has agreed to hold a legislative election before the presidential polls.

Hamas and Fatah have remained at odds since the former seized the Gaza Strip from the latter in mid-2007 after several days of street fighting.

In 2017, the two factions signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo in hopes of ending years of animosity and division.

Terms of the agreement, however, have never been implemented amid deep-seated differences between the two movements. 

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara