Palestinian president's son elected to top Fatah leadership body

The son of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas won a seat on Fatah's top decision-making body on Sunday, as initial results emerged from the Palestinian movement's first congress in a decade.

The congress came as Fatah faces existential challenges in the wake of the Gaza war.

Yasser Abbas, 64, a businessman who spends most of his time in Canada, secured a place on the central committee after being appointed around five years ago as his father's "special representative" — a role that marked his emergence on the political scene.

With several existing members retaining their seats, the congress's outcome was already drawing criticism.

"There is a failure to present a political, economic and cultural vision for the problems we are suffering" in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, said Ali Jarbawi, political science professor at Birzeit University.

"It looks as if it was all about merely replacing some individuals with others."

Marwan Barghouti, a popular Plaestinian leader held in Israeli prison since 2002, topped the preliminary results, retaining his seat on the committee with the highest number of votes, according to figures seen by AFP.

Jibril Rajoub was reelected as the secretary-general of the committee, keeping the seat he has held since 2017, while Palestinian vice president Hussein Al-Sheikh was also reelected.

Among the newcomers was Zakaria Zubeidi, 50, a former commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- Fatah's armed wing in the Jenin refugee camp -- who was freed from Israeli prison last year under a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.

The three-day congress, held simultaneously across Ramallah, Gaza, Cairo and Beirut, drew 2,507 voters -- a turnout of 94.64 percent, organisers said.

Fifty-nine candidates competed for 18 seats on the central committee, while 450 vied for 80 seats on the revolutionary council, the party's parliament.

Counting for the revolutionary council was still under way.

- Abbas retains control -

The congress opened Thursday, with Abbas being reelected as head of the movement.

In his opening address, he vowed to pursue reforms and hold long-delayed presidential and parliamentary elections.

Abbas and the Palestinian Authority are under mounting international pressure to implement reforms and hold elections, amid widespread accusations of corruption and political stagnation, which have eroded its legitimacy among Palestinians.

US President Donald Trump has demanded sweeping reforms of the PA as a condition for it to play any meaningful role in post-war Gaza.

Fatah has historically been the dominant force within the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the sole representative of the Palestinian people in international forums.

It groups most Palestinian factions but excludes Islamist movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

In recent decades, Fatah's popularity and influence have dwindled amid internal divisions and growing public frustration over the stagnation of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The sense of disappointment led to a surge in support for rival Hamas, which won the last legislative elections held in 2006, before going on to expel Fatah from the Gaza Strip after a bout of factional fighting.

Fatah's central committee is expected to play a decisive role in the post-Abbas era, with key figures already jostling to succeed the 90-year-old veteran leader, with Rajoub and Sheikh among the frontrunners.

Jarbawi meanwhile said that Yasser Abbas's election to the committee alone does not put him on a clear path to the presidency.

"It is not enough to guarantee him advancement to the presidency," said Jarbawi.

"This may be seen as the beginning of a phase -- if not of hereditary succession, then of securing a position in the future."

Jarbawi said the elder Abbas remained firmly in command, with the congress failing to clarify who would lead the movement after him.

"He is still in control of the reins of power, and his reelection reflects his dominance over Fatah," Jarbawi said, while acknowledging that several committee members harbour their own leadership ambitions.