El Fatah to Seek Ways to Bolster Its Decimated Forces; Its Military Strength is Down

The 150-member Palestinian National Council will resume its meetings in Cairo on Feb. 27 in an effort to rescue the decimated Palestinian guerrilla movement from the consequences of a long series of disasters since the Jordanian civil war last September. The conference is expected to deal with various proposals, including one that the guerrilla movement go “underground” and another suggesting that it withdraw to Syria and conduct border warfare from there against both Israel and the Hussein regime in Jordan. The Council may also consider plans for the establishment of a separate Palestinian state on the West Bank. Support for such a plan would mark a major reversal of the guerrilla position which up to now has demanded the dismemberment of Israel and its replacement by a bi-national “democratic” state of Jews, Moslems and Christians. Israeli experts on Arab affairs say that a bitter struggle for leadership of El Fatah, the largest of the Palestinian commando groups, is being waged behind the scenes in Cairo.

El Fatah chief Yassir Arafat has come under serious challenge for the first time from both the military and civilian wings of El Fatah. His opponents are exploiting Arafat’s failures and his personal weaknesses. He has been accused of serious mistakes in his dealings with King Hussein and of loosening El Fatah’s ties with Egypt. Israeli sources say El Fatah’s military strength is down to about 30 percent of what it was in mid-1970. This decline is reflected in the present scale of El Fatah operations along the Jordan River. From a peak of 30 incidents a day, they have dropped to an average of no more than five operations a week, mostly shooting across the river, El Fatah contingents have been ousted by Jordanian forces from the cities and towns and from the densely populated refugee camps. They and other Palestinian guerrilla groups have taken refuge in the hills near Jerash and Ajlun in northwest Jordan.