**Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has announced that presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on 24 January.**His office said in a statement that the polls would take place across the Palestinian territories, including the rival Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Mr Abbas’s Fatah faction, which runs the West Bank, has so far failed to reach a reconciliation with Hamas.
Mr Abbas’s presidential term expired earlier this year.
Hamas officials said Mr Abbas’s election call struck a blow to reconciliation efforts between the rival factions, Reuters reports.
Fatah and Hamas have been deeply divided since Hamas’ violent takeover of Gaza in 2007.