RAMALLAH (Dispatches) – The Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Central Council on Monday elected Rawhi Fattouh, its new head in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, according to official Palestine TV.
The council “elected Rawhi Fattouh as head of the National Council, and Ali Faisal and Musa Hadid as his deputies,” the state TV said.
It added that Fahmy al-Zaarir has been elected the council’s secretary.
Fattouh will replace Salim al-Zanoun, who recently submitted his resignation.
Fattouh, Hadid, and al-Zaarir all belong to the Fatah movement, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Faisal is a senior member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The council kicked off its 31st session on Sunday in Ramallah under the shadow of a boycott by some Palestinian factions.
The two-day Central Council meeting, held under the title “Developing and activating the PLO, protecting the national project and popular resistance,” discussed Zionist settlement activity, especially in occupied Al-Quds, as well as the deadlocked so-called pace process and other political and domestic issues.
On Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said his country was considering all options to end the Zionist regime’s occupation as the Tel Aviv regime is pressing ahead with “its colonial practices that perpetuate apartheid and settler terrorism.”
“We will consider all our options, especially as we have responded, to the fullest extent, to the international efforts aimed at finding a fair resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and fulfilled all our obligations, so that no one can blame us for the obstruction of the peace process,” Mahmoud Abbas said at the opening of the 31st session of the Palestinian Central Council.
He stressed that “It is no longer possible to remain silent on the current situation,” adding “It has become imperative for us to make fateful decisions to maintain our presence in our homeland, for the sake of Al-Quds, the jewel of the crown, and for the sake of a free Palestine.”
Abbas stated that the Palestinians are currently in dire need of finding “means to end the occupation of the land of the Palestinian State with its capital, East Al-Quds” and to step up the peaceful popular resistance – which he described as “our main option” – in order to confront the settlers’ terrorist attacks and the Zionist regime’s plans to seize the Palestinian territory.
He then hailed the anti-Zionist protests in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and other areas, saying they were aimed at defending “our identity and presence.”
Still, he noted that Palestine would continue to cooperate with the international community to achieve “a comprehensive and just peace.”
Abbas said his country is still waiting for the administration of Joe Biden to make good on its promises, including the announcement of its adherence to the so-called two-state solution and its rejection of Zionist settlement expansion.
In February 2020, the Palestinian Authority severed ties with the U.S. after Washington announced a controversial pro-Tel Aviv scheme, dubbed “the deal of the century”, which Washington claimed would resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The one-sided move provoked a strong backlash from Palestinians at the time.