Israeli media has reported on a proposal for the head of Palestinian Authority intelligence, "Majed Farraj," to take over the administration of Gaza after the war. Channel 14 in Israel noted that Farraj has begun working on building an armed force in the southern Gaza Strip. Additionally, it was mentioned that Farraj's force consists of families that do not support Hamas, aimed at distributing aid from the south to the north.
Who is Farraj?
Majed Farraj is a Palestinian politician and a leader in the Fatah movement, born in 1963. He was arrested while he was a high school student and spent a year and a half in prison due to his activities with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He contributed to the establishment of the Fatah Youth and was also a prominent figure during the First Palestinian Intifada.
In January 2023, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah issued a decree amending the intelligence law to allow Farraj to remain in his position for an indefinite period. According to this amendment, the appointment and termination of the head of the intelligence agency are now under the authority of the president, and Farraj also holds the rank of minister.
Majed Ali Muhammad Khalil Farraj, also known as Abu Bashar, was born on February 28, 1963, in the Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, West Bank, after his family was displaced from the village of Ras Abu Ammar in the Jerusalem district. His mother passed away when he was 13 years old after suffering from a terminal illness. He is the second of six siblings, and after his father's second marriage, he gained six more brothers.
The difficult conditions of poverty in the camp compelled him to leave school and work to help support the family, leading him to move between various workshops and jobs. He worked in shell production at a carpentry shop in the camp, contributed to building the central market in Bethlehem, and then worked in a woodworking shop that produced children's toys at the Early Childhood Resource Center, which was headed by the late Faisal al-Husseini.
