Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday issued a decree declaring a legislative election for November 28.

Should they take place, this would mark the first such vote in the Palestinian Territories since 2006.

"The presidential decree calls on the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to participate in free and direct legislative elections to elect members of the Palestinian Legislative Council on the date specified," the Palestinian Authority's official Wafa news agency said.

Abbas, 90, won the presidential election held back in 2005 with a four-year mandate that would have ended in 2009.

However, the following year, Hamas beat out his Fatah party in the parliamentary vote. The power split led to both the legislature and voting effectively being suspended ever since.