Palestinian Regional Branch (Ba'ath Party)

The Palestinian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (Arabic: الفرع القطري الفلسطيني في الحزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي al-fara‘ al-quṭrī l-falasṭīnī fīl-ḥizb al-ba‘ath al-‘arabī l-ishtirākī) has been the ruling political party of the Republic of Palestine since 1979. It is a branch of the Syrian-led Ba'athist movement headquartered in Damascus, whose local branch has ruled Syria since 1963. The current Regional Secretary of the Regional Command is Roman Kindi, who succeeded Yasser Arafat as President of Palestine in November 2004.

Founded in February 1949 by Ahmad Shamasna and a handful of close associates, the Palestinian Regional Branch sided with Syria during the 1966 Syrian-Iraqi schism in the Ba'ath Party, with the Palestinian Regional Command becoming officially subordinate to the National Command in Damascus, led by Syrian President Hafez al-Assad from 1970. After the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestine following Arab defeat in the 1967 Six-Day War, the Military Committee (renamed the Military Bureau after 1977) of the Palestinian Regional Branch, led by Colonel Rifaf Khan and Lieutenant Colonel Yasser Arafat, spearheaded the partisan resistance movement via the Palestinian National Salvation Front (PNSF), culminating in the 1976–1979 Sinai War which ended the occupation. The party has ruled Palestine ever since.