Thousands of Palestinians have jammed into main squares of Gaza City for the first rally marking the founding of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah political group since 2007.

Fatah supporters chanted and waved yellow and black flags, on Friday, as they marked the party's 48th anniversary. The group was founded by the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 1965.

It is the first rally for Fatah in Gaza since the rival Hamas group took control of the region in 2007.

Tensions have begun to ease between the Fatah and Hamas factions. Hamas recently its first rallies in the West Bank.

In November, the two groups pledged to strengthen relations after the U.N. General Assembly voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state.