Moussa Arafat

Moussa Arafat

"Major General" Moussa Arafat al-Qudwa (born Jaffa January 23, 1940/41 — killed in Gaza City September 7, 2005) was a cousin of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

In July 2004, Arafat was appointed head of the Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip. This appointment and corruption claims against Arafat's family were partially the catalyst for intense armed conflict in the streets of Gaza between Palestinian 'militants' of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade group and fighters loyal to Chairman Arafat's Fatah.

Following the conflict, Yasser Arafat reshuffled the Gaza security apparatus and appointed Abdel-Razek al-Majaideh to the new post of overall director of security for the West Bank and Gaza, outranking Moussa Arafat.

In April 2005 Arafat was removed from his position as security chief but was subsequently named as adviser on military affairs with ministerial rank.

A power struggle between rival Palestinian factions emerged in Gaza and the West Bank in anticipation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw troops and settlers from the occupied territory by the end of 2005.

In 2003 Arafat escaped injury in an explosion in his office caused by rockets fired, he claimed, by Palestinian enemies. In October 2004, Moussa Arafat and a top security official in the Gaza Strip, survived a car bomb that exploded in his convoy. Israel's military denied involvement.