Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s son, Yasser Abbas, is elected to a seat on Fatah’s central committee, according to initial results reported after the party’s first general conference in nearly a decade. The 64-year-old businessman, who spends much of his time in Canada, secures a place on the movement’s top decision-making body. Multiple outlets report that Yasser Abbas had been appointed years earlier as his father’s “special representative,” a role that is described as helping bring him into the political arena. The election extends the Abbas family’s long-standing influence within Fatah, which has dominated the Palestinian Authority for decades. The conference and the Central Committee vote are also taking place as Fatah faces major political and organizational pressures following the Gaza war, which some reports describe as existential strains. Separately, Palestinian leadership continues to face mounting pressure to hold long-delayed presidential and parliamentary elections, with the party’s internal developments occurring amid that broader political backdrop. Mahmoud Abbas is reported to remain chairman of Fatah following the decisions at the conference.