General Congress
Fatah‘s General Congress elects the party’s top leadership bodies: the Revolutionary Council and Central Committee. It is supposed to meet every five years.
After several delays, Fatah’s Eighth General Congress took place on 14 May 2026. It was held simultaneously in Ramallah, Cairo and Beirut.
Approximately 2,580 Fatah members were reportedly invited to attend. Amongst them were hundreds of active and retired members of the Palestinian Authority‘s security forces (amongst them senior officers in the Preventative Security Organisation, General Intelligence Service, Military Intelligence, National Security Forces and Presidential Guard. The chairman of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, Ali Shaath, was also invited. Members of Mohammad Dahlan‘s Fatah – Democratic Reform Bloc were excluded despite Egyptian lobbying.
Fatah’s Seventh General Congress was held in Ramallah in December 2016. It was largely seen as a move by Mahmoud Abbas to strengthen his grip on the party by ousting his rival Mohammed Dahlan and marginalising popular Fatah figure Marwan Barghouti.