Central Committee of Fatah Mahmoud Abbas is the "ex officio" Chairman. Central Committee of Fatah The Fatah Central Committee is the highest decision-making body of the Palestinian organization and political party, Fatah. The first Fatah Central Committee was formed in February 1963, consisting of ten members, including Yasser Arafat, Khalil al-Wazir, Salah Khalaf, and Khaled al-Hassan. Arafat and al-Wazir, who lobbied for increased personal responsibility, primarily faced opposition from al-Hassan who opposed premature military action against Israel which the former two advocated. The establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964 severely undermined Fatah, with 80% of its members joining the PLO's armed
Fatah as such. The group has also dominated various PLO and Palestinian Authority forces and security services which were/are not officially tied to Fatah, but in practice have served as wholly pro-Fatah armed units, and been staffed largely by members. The original name for Fatah's armed wing was al-'Asifah ("The Storm"), and this was also the name Fatah first used in its communiques, trying for some time to conceal its identity. This name has since been applied more generally to Fatah armed forces, and does not correspond to a single unit today. Other militant groups associated with Fatah include: During the