GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A number of Fatah leaders, namely Jamal al-Tirawi and Najat Abu Bakr, who were dismissed from the movement at the end of October on the grounds of having other allegiances, have called for the formation of a committee of Fatah elders to try to re-boost the movement, reunite it and thwart any exclusionary decisions by the movement’s seventh conference scheduled for Nov. 29.

This call comes in tandem with Fatah’s official announcement of the seventh conference and its cutting of salaries of the staff supporting dismissed leader Mohammed Dahlan, as well as the outbreak of clashes between the security forces and some armed members in camps in the West Bank in protest of the movement’s dismissal decision.

Tirawi told Al-Monitor that the calls to form said committee come in a bid to save the movement, in light of the accumulated internal crises and concerns that the conference would pave the way for more dismissals and further salary cuts.

He said that the idea to form a committee of elders was the result of discussions held with many of the leaders and cadres of the movement, who refuse this exclusivity and exclusion policy carried out by Fatah’s senior leaders — Mahmoud Abbas and his peers — hoping that these calls would not fall on deaf ears.