Hussein al-Sheikh: the new frontrunner to succeed Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas

On Saturday, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) announced that 64-year-old Hussein al-Sheikh, the current secretary-general of the PLO’s executive committee and a close ally of President Mahmoud Abbas, has been approved by the executive committee to assume the newly created position of vice-president.

He now becomes the first vice-president in the PLO’s history since its establishment in 1964.

The appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh as vice-president of the PLO does not guarantee he will succeed 89-year-old Abbas as Palestinian president, but it makes him the clear frontrunner among Fatah’s long-standing leadership.

But their is still no clear path of succession in the Palestinian Authority, the governing body for Palestinians in the West Bank.

A few months ago, Abbas signed a presidential decree stating that, in the event of his incapacitation, the head of the Palestinian National Council — not the PLO Deputy Chairman — would temporarily assume leadership. Al-Sheikh himself has emphasised over the past year that anyone stepping into Abbas' role would only manage the PA and PLO on an interim basis until gaining full legitimacy through elections, Jack Khoury reports in Haaretz.

But what is currently framed as a "temporary" appointment could easily become permanent. Al-Sheikh, considered one of the most influential figures in Abbas’ inner circle, has strategically placed close associates in key roles within the security services and Civil Affairs Authority.

There is also uncertainty regarding the exact scope of al-Sheikh’s powers. It remains to be seen whether he will hold genuine authority or serve largely in a symbolic role. According to the approved decision, Abbas will delegate certain powers to him and assign specific tasks. Palestinian leadership sources admit that such appointments carry little real significance for the broader future of the Palestinian national cause, describing the move as largely administrative.

"We are living in an era where the Netanyahu-Smotrich-Ben Gvir government is pushing for displacement in Gaza, annexation in the West Bank, and the collapse of the Palestinian Authority – crushing any hope of self-determination," a senior PLO official told Haaretrz.

"In a reality where the American administration views the world through real estate deals, the Palestinian national issue is simply not on its agenda," he added.

Though Abbas’ term as PA president officially expired in 2009, he has remained in power, refusing to hold new elections. In 2021, Abbas postponed both parliamentary and presidential elections — the first scheduled since 2006, when Hamas achieved a major victory over Fatah and other factions — citing uncertainty over whether Israel would permit voting in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. Critics  broadly viewed this as an excuse amid his declining popularity. A September 2024 poll by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research showed Abbas' approval rating among Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank at just 18%.

Al-Sheikh, 64, is a veteran Palestinian politician who has held a series of senior positions over the decades. Most recently, he has served for three years as secretary-general of the PLO’s executive committee. According to his biography, he spent 11 years in Israeli prisons between 1978 and 1989, where he learned Hebrew, and later became a veteran of the Palestinian security forces — experiences that could strengthen his credibility among Palestinian security personnel and the broader public.

He is Abbas’ closest aide and maintains good working relations with Israel and key Arab states, including wealthy Gulf countries. Earlier this year, he met with US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Saudi Arabia. In 2024, he made diplomatic visits to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, and met with top US officials during former President Joe Biden’s administration.

Saudi Arabia welcomed Al-Sheikh's appointment, with the foreign ministry issuing a statement on X expressing support for "reform measures taken by Palestinian leadership" and wishing him success.

Al-Sheikh also heads the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department and has served as the PA’s Minister of the General Authority of Civil Affairs since 2007, making him the key point of contact with Israeli authorities on civilian matters in the West Bank.

As Abbas' liaison with Israel, he controls the issuing of coveted travel permits for Palestinians, including for VIPs, giving him significant leverage over political rivals. In a 2022 interview with the Associated Press, Al-Sheikh defended the controversial security coordination with Israel, stating "I am not a representative for Israel in the Palestinian territories. We undertake the coordination because this is the prelude to a political solution for ending the occupation."

Despite his high profile, al-Sheikh, like much of the Fatah leadership, is deeply unpopular with the general Palestinian public. This week’s decision, made behind closed doors by the PLO’s ageing leadership, is likely to reinforce perceptions that it is increasingly disconnected from its people.

Meanwhile, Marwan Barghouti, the most popular Palestinian figure, remains imprisoned for life in Israel, and Israel has ruled out his release as part of any future negotiations.

The move comes at a time when the Palestinian leadership faces a deep legitimacy crisis while Abbas aims to position the Palestinian Authority to play a leading role in postwar Gaza. Regional and international actors, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are pushing for the creation of a technocratic governing body for Gaza that would exclude the PA.

Khaled Elgindy, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University's Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies, told Al-Monitor that the appointment signals an effort by Abbas to reassure Arab states and the international community that "the [Palestinian] leadership is putting its internal house in order and that there will be a smooth succession process." However, Elgindy questioned the effectiveness of the move, given the PLO’s ossified institutional state "It’s not about personalities or posts; it’s really about institutions, and the PLO is an institution in decay that is ossified and frozen in time and not even remotely representative. It is Mahmoud Abbas’ fiefdom." There are fears the appointment may ultimately prove tokenistic. Though the PLO remains the official representative of Palestinians internationally, it "exists mainly on paper," Elgindy said, reduced to a body dominated by Abbas and his loyalists.

Speaking at the meeting of the Palestinian Central Council in Ramallah last week Abbas called for Hamas to surrender its control over Gaza, hand over its arms to the Palestinian Authority, and transform into a political party operating under Palestinian state laws and international legitimacy standards. In one of his most forceful addresses since the start of the war in Gaza, Abbas sharply criticised Hamas, blaming the group for prolonging the conflict and demanding it release all remaining Israeli hostages. "Hamas has given the criminal occupation excuses to commit its crimes in the Gaza Strip," Abbas said.

"Sons of dogs, release the hostages and block their justifications."

Abbas laid out a vision for a Palestinian state, calling for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the reunification of Palestinian factions under the umbrella of the PLO. He also accused Hamas of inflicting "severe damage" on the Palestinian cause since its takeover of Gaza in 2007 "It has provided the occupation with dangerous free services, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and allowed this criminal occupation to find free justifications for executing its conspiracies and crimes in the Gaza Strip."

Abbas concluded by urging the international community to implement existing UN Security Council resolutions and to convene an international peace conference.

In response, Hamas rejected Abbas' accusations, questioning his "competence" and accusing him of "placing responsibility for the crimes of the occupation on the Palestinian people."

READ MORE

Hussein Sheikh as PLO's first vice president: Palestinian reform or Abbas gesture? (Al-Monitor, Paywall )

'Sons of dogs': Palestinian Authority president calls on Hamas to free hostages, cede control of Gaza (Jack Khoury, Haaretz)

Palestinian Authority president calls Hamas ‘sons of dogs,’ demands release of hostages and disarmament (CNN)

Palestinian president names Hussein al-Sheikh vice-president of PLO and his likely successor (The Guardian)