Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the PLO’s Executive Committee, announced on Saturday that Hussein al-Sheikh had been appointed “deputy]vice president] of the PLO leadership.
Earlier this week, Abbas, 89, took over as vice president of Ramallah’s 32nd session.
According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, Abbas reiterated his commitment to starting a “comprehensive national dialogue” that seeks to “align all Palestinian factions to achieve reconciliation and strengthen national unity.”
Abbas also provided an update on “upcoming political initiatives aimed at halting the Gaza Strip’s ongoing genocide and Israeli aggression.”
In addition to these, WAFA recommends ensuring the prompt arrival of humanitarian and medical aid, full Palestinian control of Gaza, and calling for the enclave’s total Israeli withdrawal as “a step toward launching a political process to end the occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The appointment comes as Arab and Western powers consider the Palestinian Authority (PA) to play a bigger role in post-war governance in the Gaza Strip.
The PLO, which was established in 1964, is in charge of negotiating and signing international agreements with the Palestinian people, while the PA is in charge of governing the occupied Palestinian territory.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad are not included in the PLO, which is a group under one umbrella organization.
Sheikh, 64, is a former leader of Abbas’s Fatah movement, which is regarded as close to the president.
Sheikh is “in charge of security coordination with the Israeli occupation,” according to Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst.
Sheikh has endured “groomed for the past 18 years” due to the tensions between Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel, Bishara continued.
Israel has greater faith in him than it does in Abbas himself. And Abbas has been the Palestinian Authority’s ultimate pragmatic/moderate leader, much to the liking of the US and the EU, even if he and his cohorts, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Because of the numerous demands the Palestinian situation has, analyst Aref Jaffal claimed the new position was created to allow someone to succeed Abbas.
According to Jaffal, director of the Al-Marsad Election Monitoring Center, “the Palestinian political system is already miserable,” adding that all these arrangements are a step toward creating an Abbas-like leader.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply