US EditionMahmoud Abbas Turns 90 as Questions Grow Over His Role in Postwar Gaza
- On Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas turns 90 while governing only small pockets of the West Bank and being marginalized by Israel.
- Netanyahu’s government has actively curtailed PA authority, withholding some $3 billion in tax transfers while settlement expansion and resource control push the Palestinian Authority toward collapse.
- Abbas’s aides say he has limited decision-making to a small circle, naming Hussein al-Sheikh his designated successor in April, while polls show 80% want him to resign and 60% doubt elections.
- Abbas’s weakened position has immediate consequences: Palestinians face leaderlessness amid an existential crisis, fears of international governance dominated by Israel’s allies, and right-wing annexation moves that end statehood hopes.
- Polling and rival figures suggest deep political shifts, as Abbas promises elections after Gaza war and a Palestinian-French commission, but Marwan Barghouti leads polls and Khalil Shikaki links Abbas’s inaction since Oct. 7, 2023 to Hamas gains.
38 Articles
38 Articles
Palestinian Leadership Crisis: President Mahmoud Abbas at 90
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas turns 90, holding on to power in the West Bank but increasingly marginalized. Criticized for weak governance and lack of elections, Abbas faces dwindling support amid a leadership vacuum as Israeli-Palestinian tensions escalate and prospects for a Palestinian state diminish.
Palestinian leader Abbas turns 90, weakened by Israel and deeply
CAIRO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas turns 90 on Saturday, still holding authoritarian power in tiny pockets of the West Bank, but marginalized and weakened by Israel, deeply unpopular among Palestinians, and struggling for a say in a postwar Gaza Strip. The world’s second-oldest serving president — after Cameroon’s 92-year-old Paul Biya — Abbas has been in office for 20
The old head of the Authority in the West Bank is back in the game around his birthday. He has now settled his successor. He hopes for a role in the Trump plan for the Gaza Strip.
First the massacre, then a two-year war between Israel and Hamas – and now a ceasefire. What's next in the Middle East? All developments in the live blog.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 48% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
