Abbas unanimously re-elected as leader of Palestine's Fatah movement

Mahmoud Abbas, 81, was last elected leader in similar circumstances at the sixth conference in 2009 and has remained Palestinian president since 2004.

There is no official voting procedure for the presidency of Fatah, as members either cheer in favour of the leader or not.

"This voting without a vote has become the norm at these conferences," said Jihad Harb, a Palestinian writer and analyst.

"This custom was repeated at today's conference, where members of the conference elected the leader without a direct vote or any polling mechanism."

The announcement was made by Salim Zanoun, a member of the Central Committee.

Many of Fatah's critics have railed against this year's conference, which is seen as a largely rubber-stamping exercise, filled with supporters of Mahmoud Abbas.

Fatah released a list of the 1,500 invitees to the conference last week, which largely attracted criticism for the average age of those attending and the perceived lack of critics of Abbas.

According to conference rules, delegates must have been active within Fatah for at least 15 years before they are allowed to attend.