Battle of Gaza (2007) were boycotted by both Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The election resulted in PLO and Fatah chairman Mahmoud Abbas being elected President to a four-year term. On 8 February 2005 the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced a cease-fire. On 17 March 2005 Hamas endorsed the ceasefire. On 19 March 2005 twelve Palestinian factions, including Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) signed the Palestinian Cairo Declaration, which reaffirmed the status of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate
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