In the Occupied Territories, a major split has emerged within the ruling Palestinian party Fatah. Marwan Barghouti, a popular activist jailed in Israel for his role in leading the latest uprising, heads a coalition of young dissidents that wants to split with the party’s old guard, which it calls corrupt and incompetent. The new faction says it will run against Fatah candidates in upcoming legislative elections in January. Palestinian President and Fatah head Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to resign if Barghouti insists splitting the party. The division threatens to further weaken Fatah’s standing. On Thursday, rival group Hamas won a majority of seats in municipal elections in the West Bank town of Nablus.