Mahmoud Aloul
Mahmoud Aloul (محمود العالول) was born in 1950 in Nablus. He has been a member of of Fatah’s Central Committee since 2009, serving as its deputy chairman between 2017-2026.
Aloul was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in 2006 and headed the official ‘Fatah Movement‘ list contesting the cancelled May 2021 legislative elections.
Aloul is considered a leading candidate to succeed Mahmoud Abbas.
After being imprisoned for three years and deported to Jordan by the Israeli army after the 1967 war, he joined Fatah, where he became a top adviser to Yasser Arafat and Fatah deputy leader Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), as well as a commander in Fatah’s military wing in Jordan and then Lebanon. Despite initial opposition from Israel, Aloul was allowed to return to the Occupied Palestinian Territory in 1995. He was then appointed by Arafat as governor of Nablus, a position he filled for ten years, before becoming PA minister of labour.
Aloul is a proponent of peaceful and popular resistance, including through demonstrations and boycotting Israeli products, though in the past he advocated and engaged in armed resistance. He is also heads Fatah’s Commission for Mobilisation and Organisation – which oversees Fatah’s local branches, activities and recruitment.