The Palestinian faction Fatah staged celebrations marking the 48th anniversary of its founding on Tuesday, with masked men marching on the outskirts of Bethlehem wielding guns, axes, knives and mock rockets. Fatah politically controls the West Bank and the Palestinian Authority, and is locked in a battle for Palestinian prestige with the Iran-backed Hamas faction. Despite an increased tempo in anti-Israel incitement that has included television glorification of arch-terrorists, Fatah is considered at risk of losing widespread popular support. Fatah leaders are known to be seeking reconciliation with Hamas in order to dampen the rivalry, and analysts fear that the terms of such reconciliation will ultimately pave the way for Hamas to seize control of the West Bank. Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah in a bloody 2007 takeover that saw hundreds of Palestinians killed.

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