A Palestinian leader’s son has been given a job in Abbas’s party, a source says
The son of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a millionaire businessman, has secured a significant position within his father’s political party, Fatah, according to a party official on Sunday. This development comes as a succession battle for leadership of the troubled Palestinian Authority (PA) appears imminent.
Yasser Abbas secured a position in the elections for the Fatah Central Committee, the party’s foremost decision-making body, during its first general conference in nearly a decade. It has been decided that Mahmoud Abbas, 90, will continue in his role as chairman.
The PA was established as a temporary administration following the Oslo accords of the 1990s, which were agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, a coalition that continues to be recognized internationally as the representative of the Palestinian people. The influential Fatah party holds a dominant position within both the PA and the PLO.
Abbas’ son’s entry into politics has sparked speculation that the president may be looking to position Yasser, 64, as his successor at the helm of Fatah.
Some Fatah officials have criticized this, arguing that Yasser would struggle to unify Palestinians or assist them in defining a new political future following years without national elections or meaningful progress toward statehood.
In the over twenty years since Mahmoud Abbas was elected to succeed Fatah founder Yasser Arafat, Palestinians have increasingly perceived the PA as ineffective and corrupt, a claim that Abbas denies, as he has governed by decree since his mandate expired in 2009.
In 2007, Hamas militants overpowered Abbas’ Fatah forces in the Gaza Strip, seizing control of the enclave just a year after Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections.
Peace talks with Israel aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem collapsed in 2014, as expanding Israeli settlements have since fragmented areas designated for Palestinian statehood. The PA is currently facing a financial crisis.
Yasser Abbas, despite never having held an official position within Fatah or the PA, manages tobacco and contracting businesses in areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank where the PA has limited self-rule. Critics have consistently claimed that he and his brother Tarek have utilized public funds to support their businesses, allegations that both men deny.
Included among those who have secured positions on the Central Committee are Majed Faraj, the head of the General Intelligence Agency, and Zakaria Zubeidi, a former leader of a militant group, who was released during a Hamas-Israel prisoner-hostage exchange as part of a 2025 Gaza ceasefire.
