Palestinian Fatah supporters hold flags during a rally marking the 15th anniversary of the death of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Qalqilya, Nov. 11, 2019. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)
GAZA, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Palestinians rallied in Gaza city on Saturday to mark the 15th anniversary of the death of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, which will be on Monday.
Leaders and supporters of the Fatah movement, chaired by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, gathered at a main square in the city center, waving the yellow flags of Fatah and holding huge posters for Arafat.
Thousands of the participants marched from the square toward Arafat's house in the western part of the city.
The demonstrators gathered in front of the house, where Fatah leaders who joined the rally stressed that they will follow Arafat's footsteps until their independent Palestinian state is established.
Arafat is the first historic Palestinian leader who signed the first-ever peace agreement, known as Oslo Accords, with late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in the White House in September 1993.
After leaving the Gaza Strip in 2002, Arafat was confined by the Israeli army at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah until he died of a mysterious disease in November 2004.
