President of the State of Palestine President of the State of Palestine The President of the State of Palestine is the head of the State of Palestine. He is also the President of the Palestinian National Authority. Both functions were held by Yasser Arafat from 1989 and continued until his death in November 2004, and was continued by his successor Mahmoud Abbas. In May 2005, the PLO Central Council asked Abbas to perform the duties of the President of the State of Palestine. In November 2008, the PLO Central Council approved the continuation of Abbas's function as President of the State of Palestine. On 15 November
Central Committee of Fatah Arafat and al-Wazir convinced the central committee to allow military operations. As a result, al-Assifa was formed as Fatah's armed wing, but Arafat's rival Abu Youssef was appointed its leader. In 1965, Arafat was chosen to replace him, but eventually began facing opposition from the central committee. Al-Hassan led the committee to cut funds to al-Assifa in an attempt to reduce its operations, but Arafat decided to relocate to Damascus, Syria where he received financial aid from Palestinians working abroad. In the 1989 Fatah Conference, 18 Fatah members were elected to the committee, with Arafat as the secretary-general. Following Arafat's