New member elected into Fatah leadership

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The Palestinian political movement Fatah has elected a large number of new members to its central committee. The preliminary results show a new younger-generation of leaders.

While young men and women celebrate outside the conference hall, younger generation leaders dominated the vote inside.

Fatah's younger generation won 14 out of the committee's 18 seats.

Only four old members will remain. The new lineup brings hope of a new era of Palestinian-Israeli relationship.

For one thing, most of the newly elected are believed to be pragmatic leaders who either spent years in Israeli jails or worked with Israelis and speak Hebrew.

Among them is a 50-year-old former Gaza security chief, now jailed by Israel and seen as a likely future president, and a former aide to the late President Yasser Arafat.

Jibril Rajovb, Newly Elected Member, said, "I think that this drastic change was a necessity for the movement. Reorganizing, rebuilding the movement, will be the priority."