Israel Schedules General Elections for October 27

JERUSALEM — Israel is scheduled to hold general elections on October 27, according to reports published on October 21, 2026. The vote would be the first since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, according to a Telegram channel.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has intensified operations against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the Gaza Strip over the past two weeks, a security source told Walla on Wednesday. The source said the military has been eliminating an average of two to three field commanders and operatives per day. Some of those targeted were on their way to carry out operations against IDF forces, the source said.

The security source linked the operations to concerns about possible attempts to disrupt the election. "We are seeing Hamas take an interest in the Israeli elections and how they will affect the 'day after,'" the source said. "There is no concrete intelligence regarding any particular operation, but we are not taking any chances."

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir visited the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the Jerusalem Post reported. Zamir said the aim was "to thwart every threat and enable democratic elections to take place without external influence."

Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed security forces to expand intelligence-gathering ahead of the vote, according to the same source. Maj.-Gen. Itzik Cohen, head of the IDF Operations Directorate, has ordered reinforcements across air, sea and ground operations in the coming days, the report said. These include special forces units positioned as rapid-response and reserve forces.

The IDF's Southern Command, the Israel Air Force, the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet are preparing for potential threats from Gaza, according to the report. These include rocket launches, attacks on IDF positions along the Yellow Line, and infiltration attempts on military outposts along the Yellow Line and the Hourglass Fence on the international border. Security officials said such operations could be intended to disrupt Israel's public agenda ahead of the vote.

Security officials acknowledged that intelligence coverage remains incomplete, the report said. The security source said the number of targeted killings declined over the past 24 hours because of intelligence gaps, not instructions from the political leadership.

A separate post on Telegram by the Palestine Chronicle said Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza do not have a vote. The post said Palestinian citizens of Israel can vote. The same post said the author opposes Palestinian participation in the Knesset elections. This account has not been confirmed by an official source.

Neither the Israeli government nor the Central Elections Committee has been cited in the reports as confirming the date in an official statement. The reports do not say how many Gaza casualties resulted from the recent operations. The IDF has not published a casualty figure in the sources reviewed.

Background

Israel's last general election was not described in the sources. The reports refer to the October 7, 2023 attack, which led to the war in Gaza. The Yellow Line is the line that divides areas of Gaza under Israeli military control from the rest of the territory, according to the Jerusalem Post report. The Hourglass Fence runs along the international border.

The Palestine Chronicle post described the October 7 attack as one that "shook Israel" and caused unrest across the Middle East. The Jerusalem Post report described the attack as a massacre.