PA leader Mahmoud Abbas to appoint Hussein al-Sheikh as vice president

The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas is expected to appoint his first vice president on Saturday evening, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee revealed to The New Arab’s sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Ahmed Majdalani said in a statement that secretary of the PLO Executive Committee, Hussein al-Sheikh, will be assigned the position of vice chairman of the committee and vice president of the State of Palestine.

The Palestinian Central Council overwhelmingly agreed to create the new position of vice president during a Thursday meeting, with 170 voting in favour, one against, and one abstention.

Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, criticised the two-day convention after Abbas called them 'sons of dogs' and demanded that they release Israeli captives.

The vice president would be appointed "from among the members of the Executive Committee, nominated by the committee's President (Abbas) and approved by its members," according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Abbas, president of the PA for the past 20 years, has the power to assign duties to the vice president, dismiss them, or accept their resignation, Wafa said.

The Fatah-run PA exercises limited administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has witnessed intensified Israeli military raids since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.