The Islamist movement Hamas has told Palestinians in the Gaza Strip not to take part in elections called by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
The Hamas interior ministry said elections planned for January had been called without the agreement of Hamas and other factions and were illegal.
It said anyone in Gaza co-operating with the poll will be “dealt with by the ministry or by other means”.
Hamas drove Mr Abbas’s Fatah party out of Gaza in 2007.
The two factions remain bitter rivals.
