Palestinians commemorate 13th anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death
Participants waved Palestinian flags and placards calling for unity, as well as pictures of both Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas.
Supporters of former senior Fatah official Mohammad Dahlan take part in a rally marking the death anniversary of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in Gaza City November 9, 2017.
Palestinians gathered in Gaza on Saturday to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the death of veteran leader Yasser Arafat in the first such memorial in the Hamas-run territory since 2007.
The anniversary event was billed as a show of national unity after Hamas struck a reconciliation agreement last month with the rival Fatah movement founded and led by Arafat until his death in 2004.
Tens of thousands of people from across the Gaza Strip poured into Saraya Square in Gaza City from early morning, hours before the keynote speeches were due to be delivered.
Participants waved Palestinian flags and placards calling for unity, as well as pictures of both Arafat and Abbas.
Hamas seized control of Gaza in a near civil war with Fatah in 2007 amid bitter recriminations over the its landslide victory in parliamentary elections the previous year.
The last commemoration in the territory of Arafat's death was held just months afterwards and ended in clashes between the rival factions.
On Thursday, several thousand people attended an Arafat anniversary event in Gaza organised by Fatah.
On Friday, hundreds of people took part in a "national unity marathon" organised by the Palestine Athletic Federation to support reconciliation between the rival factions.
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