Overview
- Fatah filled its 18-seat Central Committee Sunday after a three-day congress that organizers said drew about 2,580 delegates with 94.6% turnout across Ramallah, Gaza, Cairo and Beirut.
- Businessman Yasser Abbas, the president’s son who is largely based in Canada, won a seat on the top body, drawing complaints from critics about entrenchment of the ruling circle.
- Jailed leader Marwan Barghouti received the most votes, while intelligence chief Majed Faraj and former Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades commander Zakaria Zubeidi also secured seats.
- Mahmoud Abbas was re-elected party chair at the opening session and pledged reforms and future national, general and presidential elections, though he did not set dates.
- Analysts said the lineup consolidates Abbas’s grip and leaves succession unclear, with Al Jazeera stressing loyalist gains and Israeli outlets highlighting the rise of prisoners and former militants.