Editing Yasser Arafat (section)

===Leader of the Palestinians===
On 13 November 1966, Israel launched a major raid against the [[Jordan]]ian administered [[West Bank]] town of [[as-Samu]], in response to a Fatah-implemented roadside bomb attack which had killed three members of the [[Israeli Security Forces|Israeli security forces]] near the southern [[Green Line (Israel)|Green Line]] border. In the resulting skirmish, scores of Jordanian security forces were killed and 125 homes razed. This raid was one of several factors that led to the 1967 [[Six-Day War]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Oren|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Oren|title=Six Days of War, June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East|year=2003|publisher=The Random House Publishing Group|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sixdaysofwarjune0000oren_u3x7/page/33 33–36]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-345-46192-6|url=https://archive.org/details/sixdaysofwarjune0000oren_u3x7/}}</ref>

The Six-Day war began when Israel launched air strikes against [[Egyptian Air Force|Egypt's air force]] on 5 June 1967. The war ended in an Arab defeat and Israel's occupation of several Arab territories, including the West Bank and [[Gaza Strip]]. Although Nasser and his Arab allies had been defeated, Arafat and Fatah could claim a victory, in that the majority of Palestinians, who had up to that time tended to align and sympathize with individual Arab governments, now began to agree that a 'Palestinian' solution to their dilemma was indispensable.<ref name="Consolidation of Power">{{harvnb|Aburish|1998|pages=[https://archive.org/details/arafatfromdefend0001abur/page/69 69–98]}}</ref> Many primarily Palestinian political parties, including [[George Habash]]'s [[Arab Nationalist Movement]], [[Mohammad Amin al-Husayni|Hajj Amin al-Husseini]]'s [[Arab Higher Committee]], the Islamic Liberation Front and several Syrian-backed groups, virtually crumbled after their sponsor governments' defeat. Barely a week after the defeat, Arafat crossed the [[Jordan River]] in disguise and entered the West Bank, where he set up recruitment centers in [[Hebron]], the [[Jerusalem]] area and [[Nablus]], and began attracting both fighters and financiers for his cause.<ref name="Consolidation of Power"/>

At the same time, Nasser contacted Arafat through the former's adviser [[Mohamed Hassanein Heikal|Mohammed Heikal]] and Arafat was declared by Nasser to be the "leader of the Palestinians."<ref>{{cite book|last=Aburish|first=Said K.|author-link=Said K. Aburish|title=Nasser, The Last Arab|year=2004|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-28683-5|oclc=52766217|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312286835}}</ref> In December 1967 [[Ahmad Shukeiri]] resigned his post as [[Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization|PLO Chairman]]. [[Yahya Hammuda]] took his place and invited Arafat to join the organization. Fatah was allocated 33 of 105 seats of the [[PLO Executive Committee]] while 57 seats were left for several other [[guerrilla]] factions.<ref name="Consolidation of Power"/>