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Moussa Arafat al-Qudwa (; died 7 September 2005) was one of the founders of Fatah and a leading official in the Fatah Revolutionary Council. He was a cousin of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Following the conflict, Yasser Arafat reshuffled the Gaza security apparatus and appointed Abdel-Razek al-Majaideh to the new post of overall director of security for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, outranking Moussa Arafat.
In April 2005, Arafat was removed from his position as security chief but was subsequently named as adviser on military affairs with ministerial rank.
A power struggle between rival Palestinian factions emerged in Gaza and the West Bank in anticipation of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw troops and settlers from the occupied territory by the end of 2005.
In 2003, Arafat escaped injury in an explosion in his office caused by rockets fired, he claimed, by Palestinian enemies. In October 2004, Moussa Arafat and a top security official in the Gaza Strip, survived a car bomb that exploded in his convoy. Israel's military denied involvement.
While Arafat's home was near a security forces headquarters and only 300–400 metres from Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas's residence, media reports reported that the police had not came to the scene until 7 AM, two hours after the incident.
Mahmoud Abbas pledged to track down Arafat's killers but nothing was done. The main suspects are Palestinian offshoot groups.
Arafat's oldest son, Manhal, and three bodyguards were kidnapped by the gunmen who killed Arafat. The bodyguards were released shortly thereafter, but Manhal was held for a day before being released to an Egyptian government delegation in Gaza.
Death in militant raid
Shortly before 5 AM on 7 September 2005, dozens of masked gunmen (estimates of their number range from 80 to 100) in a convoy of about 20 vehicles, and armed with assault rifles and anti-tank grenades, stormed Arafat's home in Gaza City. After a gunfight with Arafat, the gunmen dragged Arafat outside, and shot him dead.
Aftermath of Moussa Arafat's assassination
Mohammed Abdel Al, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), a militant group, claimed responsibility for Arafat's assassination, saying it killed Arafat to punish him for corruption after the Palestinian security forces had taken no action against him. The PRC consists mainly of former members of the Fatah movement, who have accused Palestinian leaders of graft.
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Categories: 2005 Deaths, Fatah Members, People Murdered In Palestine, Deaths By Firearm In The Gaza Strip, People From Jaffa, Assassinated Palestinian Politicians, Asian Politicians Assassinated In The 2000s, 2000s Murders In Palestine, Politicians Assassinated In 2005, Yasser Arafat, 20th-century Palestinian Politicians, 21st-century Palestinian Politicians
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