Although Fatah was preparing to hold the 10th anniversary memorial for the death of President Yasser Arafat on Nov. 11 in the Gaza Strip, developments in the past few days have pushed Gaza officials to cancel the ceremony.
Fatah official Zakaria al-Agha said during a news conference in Gaza on Nov. 9, attended by Al-Monitor, that the reason behind the ceremony’s cancelation was the series of bombings that targeted a number of Fatah leaders in Gaza on Nov. 7. Gaza’s security apparatus informed Fatah that it could not secure the ceremony and protect the participants, which contradicted Hamas’ previous positions that it would not stand in the way of Arafat’s memorial.