RAMALLAH, May 14, 2026 – 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 to do so.

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 will include the election of the electoral committee and the formation of the various conference committees, which will immediately begin their meetings to follow up on the conference agenda and organizational tasks.

The second day will focus on discussing the reports submitted by various commissions and committees. This will occur concurrently with the opening of nominations for the Central Committee and Revolutionary Council elections, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

Following this, the preliminary and then final lists of candidates will be announced.

On the third day, voting is scheduled to begin at 8:00 AM and will continue until 3:00 PM.

After voting concludes, the counting of votes will commence, followed by the announcement of the results and the release of the conference's final statement.

The Fatah movement held its first conference in 1967 in Damascus, the capital of Syria. The second conference took place in 1968 in the Zabadani area, near Damascus. The third conference was held in 1971, followed by the fourth in 1980, both in Damascus. The fifth conference occurred in 1988 in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia.

The eighth general conference of the Fatah movement marks the third time the movement has convened inside the homeland. This follows the sixth conference held in 2009 in Bethlehem and the seventh conference in 2016 in Ramallah.