Palestinians create role for vice president, possible successor to aging leader Abbas

Ramallah: The Palestine Liberation Organisation on Thursday announced the creation of a vice presidency under 89-year-old leader Mahmoud Abbas, who has not specified a successor.

The PLO Central Council’s decision came as Abbas seeks greater relevance and a role in postwar planning for the Gaza Strip after having been largely sidelined by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

After a two-day meeting, the council voted to create the role of vice chairman of the PLO Executive Committee. This position would also be referred to as the vice president of the State of Palestine, which the Palestinians hope will one day receive full international recognition.

The expectation is that whoever holds that role would be the front-runner to succeed Abbas — though it’s unclear when or exactly how it would be filled. Abbas is to choose his vice president from among the other 15 members of the PLO’s executive committee.

The PLO is the internationally recognised representative of the Palestinian people and oversees the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited autonomy in less than half of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Abbas has led both entities for two decades.

Hamas, which won the last national elections in 2006, is not in the PLO. Hamas seized control of Gaza from Abbas’ forces in 2007, and reconciliation attempts between the rivals have repeatedly failed.

Hamas touched off the war in Gaza when its militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 people hostage. Israel responded with an air and ground campaign that has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants.