Palestinian group Fatah set to open 8th general congress in Ramallah

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas opened the 8th general congress of his Fatah group on Thursday, calling the Israeli war on Gaza “an unprecedented Nakba in modern Palestinian history.”

“More than 2,500 Palestinian families have been completely erased from the civil registry, including fathers, sons, grandfathers and grandsons. None of them remained. This is genocide,” Abbas said in his opening speech.

He said Israel has destroyed more than 85% of Gaza’s cities and refugee camps, including schools, hospitals, mosques and churches, “in an attempt to displace Palestinians.”

Abbas reiterated his rejection of any separation between Gaza and the West Bank.

“We will never allow different sovereign and non-sovereign actions between the West Bank and Gaza,” he said.

The Fatah congress opened at the Palestinian presidency headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, along with simultaneous sessions in the Gaza Strip, Egypt, and Lebanon.

About 2,580 members are taking part in the event, including 1,600 in Ramallah, 400 in Gaza, 400 in Cairo and 200 in Beirut, according to the preparatory committee.

Diplomats, including Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, faction leaders and academics were expected to attend.

The congress, which runs from Thursday through Saturday, will elect 80 members of the Revolutionary Council and 18 members of the Central Committee, with the numbers subject to change under the group’s internal bylaws.

Palestinian unity

Abbas said the Palestinian leadership is working with countries and international organizations to “stop the tragedy in Gaza, bring in humanitarian and medical aid and shelter supplies, and immediately begin reconstruction, in preparation for a return to the political track.”

“Gaza is an integral part of the State of Palestine,” he stressed.

The Palestinian leader said that any transitional arrangements in Gaza “must be temporary and must not affect the unity of Palestinian land, the unity of representation, legitimacy, or the political and legal system.”

The Palestinian national unity “remains the solid foundation for confronting challenges and ending division,” he stressed.

Fatah Deputy Secretary General Sabri Saidam earlier said the group’s general congress is being held at an “exceptional moment” and with the largest participation in its history, despite Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip and political and field challenges.

“Today, Fatah members are meeting with the intention that Fatah remains present on the ground as everyone wants it to be,” he told Anadolu.

“For Gaza to be able to hold the conference amid this destruction is a major political and national message,” he added.

Fatah held its first congress in Damascus, Syria, in 1967.

The group held its second congress in Zabadani, Syria, in 1968, where it elected a new 10-member Central Committee and formed a Revolutionary Council. It held its third congress in 1971, its fourth in 1980 in Damascus and its fifth in 1988 in Tunisia.

The eighth congress is the third to have been held inside Palestine, after its previous meetings in Bethlehem in 2009 and Ramallah in 2016.

Political analysts say this year’s congress comes at a complex political and security moment, amid the fallout from the Israeli war on Gaza and escalation in the West Bank, raising questions about whether it can bring meaningful change to the movement’s structure or political program.

*Writing by Lina Altawell in Istanbul