RAMALLAH, 04 July 2021, (TON): Hundreds of Palestinians have gathered in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah to demonstrate against President Mahmoud Abbas, hoping to inject new momentum into a protest movement sparked by the death of an outspoken critic in the custody of security forces.

Palestinian security forces and groups of men in plainclothes violently dispersed a similar protest a week ago, drawing expressions of concern from the United States and the United Nations human rights chief. There were no immediate reports of violence at Saturday’s demonstration.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) was established as part of the peace process in the 1990s and governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

It has grown increasingly domineering and unpopular, and Abbas cancelled the first elections in 15 years in April when it looked like his fractured Fatah party would lose.

During an escalation in violence in May between Hamas, the Palestinian group which governs the besieged Gaza Strip, and Israel, Abbas was largely sidelined amid an outpouring of support for Hamas.

Palestinian demonstrators lift placards during a rally in Ramallah city in the occupied West Bank denouncing the Palestinian Authority [Abbas Momani/AFP].

Saturday’s demonstration began with a few hundred protesters gathering in al-Manara Square in central Ramallah, the PA headquarters.