PALESTINIAN-POLITICS-VOTE

Members of the Palestinian security forces stand guard outside the Legislative Council building in the occupied-West Bank town of Ramallah, on January 16, 202. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas announced yesterday dates for the first Palestinian elections in more than 15 years, setting legislative polls for May 22 and a July 31 presidential vote. Abbas's Fatah party, which controls the Palestinian Authority based in the occupied West Bank, and the Hamas Islamists, who hold power in Gaza, have for years expressed interest in taking Palestinians back to the polls. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)