The Palestinian leaders in the western canca occupied by Israel met this week for the first gathering of its kind for years. Their mission: allow Mahmoud Abbas, the aging of the president of the Palestinian authority, to appoint a long -standing loyalist to a senior position just coined.
Saturday evening, Mr. Abbas formally called Hussein Al-Sheikh, a narrow confidant, as his deputy. Some analysts believed that the promotion of Mr. Al-Sheikh indicated that Mr. Abbas, 89, was reporting that Mr. Al-Sheikh was his favorite heir, while others saw him as a cosmetic reshuffle to appease the Arabic officials frustrated by the Palestinian leader.
For many Palestinians, the attention of their leadership on the politics of the palace while the war in Gaza has raged and a wide Israeli military operation in northern West Bank has challenged tens of thousands of people, further underlined the complacency of the Palestinian authority supported by the West.
“The ship is sinking and everyone fights for those who will be sitting at which table,” said Ghaith Al-Omari, former councilor of Mr. Abbas and senior member of the Washington Institute for Willy East Policy, a research group.
More than 50,000 Palestinians were killed in the Israel campaign against Hamas in Gaza, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and fighters. The war began with Hamas on October 7, 2023, attack on Southern Israel, who killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage.
The war launched the spotlight on the Palestinian cause and stimulated world protests. But the Fragile Palestinian authority and internally – the representative recognized at the international level of the Palestinians – fought for the relevance.
In a discourse of a Wednesday timetable by facing the conference, Mr. Abbas was mostly reiterated Family discussion points that condemn the Israel campaign in Gaza. He also denounced his rivals of Hamas, calling them “children of dogs” and asking that they release the remaining hostages.
Created during the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in the 90s, the Palestinian authority still supervises parts of the western Israeli Western West Bank. Many Palestinians hoped that one day the body would rule an independent state, but the negotiations for this purpose were founded in the early 2000s in the face of growing violence.
A significant part of the control of the Israeli coalition that governs the Indefinite Israeli control in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel also confiscates and retains the great pieces of the Palestinian budget, financially limping the government of Mr. Abbas.
At home, a vast majority of Palestinians wants Mr. Abbas to resign, show the polls of opinion. Some support his rivals of Hamas, claiming that the diplomatic approach of the Palestinian authority has failed. In response, Mr. Abbas consolidated power and reduced his critics.
Among the war in Gaza, the Biden administration and his Arab allies urged Mr. Abbas to review the authority. Many western officials saw him as the only feasible alternative to Hamas and hoped that the Gaza strip could work after the war.
But we and Arabic officials have proposed that Mr. Abbat renounces at least a little power, which was detested. The Palestinians have not had national elections since 2006, when Mr. Abbas' Fatah's faction lost against Hamas at the polls.
A request was for Mr. Abbas to appoint a prime minister enabled to rehabilitate governance and fight the corruption of the Palestinian authority. Instead, he called one of his closest helpers, Mohammad Mustafa, at the pole, that many observers have seen as more or less the same.
The Arab leaders also pressed Mr. Abbas to face more seriously the question of those who could succeed him, also by appointing a deputy who would have tried to ensure continuity in the event of death, according to two Palestinian officials and a western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss such sensitive details.
During a meeting in the summer of 2024, the hereditary prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Arabia Saudi pressed Mr. Abbas to appoint a vice -president, Palestinian officials said.
Saturday evening, the executive committee of the organization for the liberation of Palestine took on the request of Mr. Abbas to give to Mr. Al-Sheikh the title of the vice-president of the Executive Committee of the organization for the liberation of Palestine. Al-Sheikh also said on social media that he now brought the title of “Vice President of the State of Palestine”.
“Abbas' main objective is to alleviate the pressure of the Arabs,” said Jehad Harb, a political analyst based in Ramallah. “But it is not yet clear whether he is actually giving up in power.”
Saudi Arabia welcomed Al-Sheikh's appointment on Saturday, saying that he was ready to “strengthen the Palestinian political system”.
Al-Sheikh has long worked for a long time with his Israeli and American counterparts, which often describe it as a moderate pragmatic. Many Palestinians see him as an emblematic of the failures of the Palestinian authority and a symbol of the status quo.
But what could happen if Mr. Abbas died in office remains nebulous, since he refused to appoint a clear heir, resign or allow democratic elections. The result was a power struggle among the high Palestinian officials that Jockey for the position before his death.