mounting anxiety inside Palestinian Liberitation Organization as they fear Israel may capitalize on Abbas's departure, urging him to select a successor.

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The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), under pressure for a succession plan as their leader, Mahmoud Abbas, ages, established a vice president position following discussions with top officials on April 24.

Abbas, who is also the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), pledged during an Arab summit in early March to create this role. However, the eventual choice for the position remains uncertain.

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The objective is to prevent a power struggle after Abbas steps down - a situation that Israel might exploit to hasten the collapse of the PA, fully annex the occupied West Bank, and ethnically cleanse Gaza, experts claim.

Yet, Dianna Buttu, a former PLO legal adviser, asserts that creating a vice president role in the PA may not avoid a power struggle once Abbas is gone - instead, it could escalate conflicts.

"The more fractured the PA becomes, the more it will create a power vacuum... and that vacuum will be filled by external forces, particularly the Americans and Israelis," she warns.

Legitimacy Dilemma

Abbas, at 89, seized control of the PLO and PA following the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in November 2004 and has since ruled without a popular mandate due to dissolving parliament in 2007.

His Fatah party maintains a stronghold in the PA, with the defunct parliament fading away. Critics frequently accuse Abbas of stymieing efforts to hold elections that could reinvigorate the parliament.

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Privacy PolicyreCAPTCHAIn the absence of parliament, the PLO retains control over succession, a task Abbas has delayed, including by declaring last year that Rawhi Fattouh, head of the Palestinian National Council, would serve as interim president if needed until elections take place.

"Abbas has postponed naming anyone for fear they would become a rival," said Khaled Elgindy, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.

The PA was born from the Oslo Peace Accords, signed by Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1993 and 1995. Its purpose was to govern the West Bank and Gaza until a Palestinian state could be established alongside Israel.

The PA, however, lost credibility among Palestinians as Israel's occupation grew more brutal, and settlement expansion continued on Palestinian land. The number of settlements (illegal under international law), built on Palestinian territory, has risen from approximately 200,000 to over 750,000 since the Oslo Accords.

In 2007, a violent split with Hamas in Gaza narrowed the PA's power to parts of the occupied West Bank that it had minimal control over. Despite this, the PA became the de facto Palestinian representative on the international stage, replacing the PLO.

However, Abbas's popularity ebbed as people's suffering increased and the PA continued security coordination with Israel, as outlined in the Oslo Accords. The PA is also accused of failing to protect Palestinians from Israeli troops and settlers while simultaneously cracking down on civil activists and opponents.

One major obstacle for Abbas's handpicked successor is overcoming public opposition. Experts suggest that the name most frequently mentioned is Abbas's close confidant, Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee, and head of the PA’s General Authority for Civil Affairs.

Controversy surrounds al-Sheikh due to his close ties with Israeli authorities, leading critics to accuse him of serving as a liaison for the occupation.

"No one likes him among Palestinians," said Omar Rahman, a Middle East Council for Global Affairs expert on Israel-Palestine. "He is tainted by his relationship with Israel and allegations of massive corruption."

External Pressure

The pressure on Abbas regarding succession has fluctuated over the years, intensifying recently as Arab states urge him to name a successor to prevent the PA from collapsing into chaos.

Egypt is particularly dedicated to this mission, according to Rahman. In March, Egypt convened and hosted an Arab League summit, during which it introduced a reconstruction plan for Gaza to counteract US President Donald Trump’s proposed ethnic cleansing and transformation of Gaza into a “Middle East Riviera.”

The possibility of an PA administration of Gaza, however, is uncertain, as both Hamas and Israel object to it - Hamas because it currently governs Gaza, while Israel finds the PA ineffective. Despite negotiations between Fatah and Hamas, tensions remain high.

Abbas seems to be taking action, making pointed criticisms of Hamas during the talks and accusing the group of allowing Israel's continuation of genocide in Gaza by refusing to hand over captives and disarm.

Several Arab states blame Abbas for failing to reconcile his Fatah faction with Hamas, making them eager to witness a change of leadership in the PA, according to Tahani Mustafa, an expert on Palestinian internal politics with the International Crisis Group.

Since 2007, Fatah and Hamas have signed multiple agreements in an attempt to heal their divisions following the fighting that fractured the Palestinian national movement.

Some argue that Abbas should hold elections for Fatah, the PLO, and the PA instead of creating a new vice presidency. The last time voting occurred was just before the conflict between Hamas and Fatah in 2006. Hamas won a landslide victory in those legislative elections.

The challenges of voting, such as Israel's devastating war in Gaza and restrictions in the West Bank, should not prevent efforts towards a democratic process, Buttu believes.

"Inside Fatah itself, there is a lot of resistance to this appointment of a vice president. They all say there should be elections instead," Buttu explains. "He is putting a Band-Aid on a wound so deep that it requires surgery."

The current breaking news about the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) establishing a vice president position under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, amidst the dissolving of parliament in 2007 and his aging, has sparked diverse opinions about its implications for future conflicts.
While Abbas aims to prevent a power struggle and potential exploitation by Israel and the Americans with this move, Dianna Buttu, a former PLO legal adviser, warns it may escalate conflicts instead.
Experts argue that the more fractured the PA becomes, the more it will create a power vacuum, which could potentially be filled by external forces, leading to a pushback within the Palestinian internal politics.
In the light of the global concern over the war-and-conflicts and policy-and-legislation in the Middle East, the ongoing debate about the PA's succession plan and the potential creation of a power vacuum is causing unease.
With Abbas's close confidant, Hussein al-Sheikh, the name most frequently mentioned as a successor, controversy surrounds him due to his close ties with Israeli authorities and allegations of massive corruption.
The pressure on Abbas regarding succession has intensified, with Arab states such as Egypt urging him to name a successor to prevent the collapse of the PA and the ensuing conflict.
As tensions remain high between Fatah and Hamas, the impending change in the PA's leadership could significantly impact the ongoing war and the future of human rights in the region, adding to the general news basket of ongoing politics and conflicts in the Middle East.