RAMALLAH, May 14, 2026 (WAFA) – With the participation of President Mahmoud Abbas, the eighth general conference of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) officially opened on Thursday at the Ahmed Shuqairi Hall in the presidential headquarters in Ramallah, with parallel sessions also taking place in the Gaza Strip, Cairo, and Beirut.

Approximately 2,580 members are expected to participate in the conference, distributed as follows: 1,600 in Ramallah, 400 in the Gaza Strip, 400 in Cairo, and 200 in Beirut.

According to the movement's bylaws, conference members will elect 80 members to the Revolutionary Council and 18 members to the Central Committee. The conference has the authority to amend these numbers if a decision is made during the proceedings.

The conference will run for three days, from Thursday to Saturday. The opening session will include a speech by President Mahmoud Abbas, along with speeches from Palestinian national factions and representatives of Palestinians from 1948, before proceeding to internal sessions to confirm the quorum and elect the conference's presiding body.

The evening session is expected to include the election of the elections committee and the formation of various conference committees tasked with overseeing the agenda and organizational matters.

The second day will focus on discussing reports submitted by commissions and committees, concurrently with the opening of nominations for the Central Committee and Revolutionary Council elections, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. This will be followed by the announcement of the preliminary and then final lists of candidates.

On the third day, the voting is scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. and continue until 3:00 p.m., after which vote counting and the announcement of results will commence, concluding with the release of the conference’s final statement.

The Fatah movement held its first conference in 1967 in the Syrian capital, Damascus. The second conference was held in 1968 in the Zabadani area near Damascus, the third in 1971 in Damascus, the fourth in 1980 also in Damascus, and the fifth in 1988 in the Tunisian capital, Tunis.

The eighth general conference of the Fatah movement is the third conference held by the movement inside the homeland, after the sixth conference held in 2009 in the city of Bethlehem, and the seventh conference held in 2016 in the city of Ramallah.

Y.S