On Tuesday, hundreds of Palestinian supporters of the Fatah movement marched in Ramallah to mark the 55th anniversary of it’s first attack against Israel.
Fatah, which is currently led by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, has lead the armed struggle against Israel since 1959 and was the backbone of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.
At the celebration, around a dozen masked men lead the march through Ramallah, firing several rounds of gunfire into the air. Some participants wore what appeared to be fake suicide vests, referring to the organisations past terror activities against Israelis.
A number of similar marches are planned elsewhere across the West Bank in the coming days.
Fatah has long vied with the Islamist terror group Hamas for leadership of the Palestinian national struggle. In 2007, the two factions battled one another in Gaza, leading to the Hamas takeover of the coastal strip. Several attempts at reconciliation have failed.
Despite engaging in security cooperation with Israel, critics have slammed the Fatah-dominated PA for inciting antisemitism through its education system and media, and promoting violence by paying stipends to the families of Palestinians jailed in Israel on terrorism charges.
