The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, has appointed a new vice president in a significant step to designate a successor.
Hussein Al-Sheikh is a long-time aide and close confident to Abbas. His naming as a likely successor to the Palestinian President comes amid growing local and international calls for reforms of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to be able to govern postwar Gaza.
First Palestinian Vice President
On Saturday, the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) officially approved the appointment of Hussein Al-Sheikh as Deputy Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee and Vice President of Palestine, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The PLO is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people and oversees the Western-backed PA. Abbas has headed both organizations since the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004 and refused to cede power when his mandate ended in 2009.
Succeeding Abbas
The appointment of a vice president aligns with a decision made on Thursday by the Palestinian Central Council. Under the decision, the vice president will succeed Abbas in a caretaker capacity if the president dies or becomes incapacitated, according to the Associated Press (AP).
This makes Al-Sheikh the front-runner to replace the 89-year-old Abbas. However, the PLO Executive Committee, which is full of veteran politicians and likely competitors, will have to approve his appointment.
On the other hand, the speaker of the Palestinians’ non-functioning parliament, Rawhi Fattouh, will act as the caretaker leader of the Palestinian Authority (PA), but the body will have to hold elections within 90 days. If that is not possible, the new president of the PLO will likely assume the position.
Who is Hussein Al-Sheikh?
Hussein Al-Sheikh, 64, is a veteran politician with a decades-long experience. He has assumed multiple senior positions, including the Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee over the past three years. He also served in the Palestinian security forces and spent 11 years in Israeli prisons.
Al-Sheikh is Abbas’ closest aide, serving as his envoy on visits to world powers. He is widely viewed as a pragmatist and maintains good relations with Israel and Palestine’s Arab allies. His experiences could give him credibility with the broader public and Palestinian security apparatus. The new vice president will face the hard task of reuniting the Palestinian leadership, amid mounting pressures caused by the war in Gaza.
PA Reforms
The PA, which controls the occupied West Bank, has faced growing calls for reforms, hoping that it could play a vital role in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. After the outbreak of the Gaza war, reform pressures have intensified, as international players envision a postwar Gaza governed by a reformed PA.
At the Executive Committee meeting on Saturday, Abbas reiterated the commitment to launching a comprehensive national dialogue to engage all Palestinian factions to achieve reconciliation and national unity, according to WAFA.
During the Extraordinary Arab Summit for Palestine, held in Cairo, Egypt, on March 4, 2025, Abbas announced that the PA would embark on a series of reforms and changes, including the appointment of a vice president for Palestine and the PLO, restructuring leadership frameworks in the state and revitalizing the PLO, Fatah and state agencies.
At the summit, Arab countries unanimously endorsed a $53bn reconstruction plan for Gaza, which provides for an independent committee of non-factional technocrats to administer Gaza for a transitional period, under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority, while enabling the PA to return to Gaza. The plan garnered worldwide support, including from France, Germany, Italy and the UK.
Moreover, the European Union (EU) announced a €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion) financial support for the PA conditional on reforms in the Palestinian body.
A Welcome Step
The recent move by Abbas has been met with praise from the Arab countries. In the light of this, Saudi Arabia on Saturday welcomed the recent reform measures by the PA, emphasizing that these steps will bolster the Palestinian political action.
In a statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said that the Kingdom welcomes the creation of Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO and Vice President of the State of Palestine position, and the appointment of Hussein Al-Sheikh, wishing him success in his new responsibilities.
The statement added that this move will also support the broader efforts to secure the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, most notably the right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Similarly, Egypt and Jordan welcomed the appointment of Al-Sheikh, expressing their support for this move as a step towards strengthening the Palestinian internal front and securing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the establishment of an independent Palestinian State.
