The son of millionaire and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been given a leadership role in his father's Fatah political party, a party official said Sunday, amid a succession struggle in the embattled Palestinian Authority (PA). This was reported by Reuters, according to UNN.
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Yasser Abbas was granted a seat on the Fatah Central Committee — the party's highest governing body — during its first general congress in nearly a decade. It was decided that 90-year-old Mahmoud Abbas will remain the party chairman.
The Palestinian Authority was established as an interim body under the 1990s Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which is still internationally recognized as the representative of the Palestinian people. The powerful Fatah party dominates both the PA and the PLO.
The political emergence of Abbas's son has sparked speculation that the president may be trying to groom Yasser, 64, as his successor at the head of Fatah.
This has drawn criticism from some Fatah officials, who claim that Yasser will be unable to unite Palestinians and help shape a new political future after years without national elections or real progress toward statehood.
In the more than two decades since Mahmoud Abbas succeeded Fatah founder Yasser Arafat, Palestinians have come to view the PA as an ineffective and corrupt entity — which Abbas denies, while ruling by decree since his mandate expired in 2009.
In 2007, Fatah forces in the Gaza Strip were ousted by Hamas militants, who seized control of the enclave a year after winning parliamentary elections.
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Peace talks with Israel, which were intended to lead to the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, collapsed in 2014. Since then, the expansion of Israeli settlements has effectively fragmented the territories intended for a future state. The PA is also facing a financial crisis.
Yasser Abbas, who has never held official positions in Fatah or the PA, runs tobacco and construction companies in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the PA has limited self-rule. Critics have long alleged that he and his brother Tareq used public funds to develop their businesses, which both deny.
Among others who gained seats on the Central Committee are Majed Faraj, head of General Intelligence, and former militant Zakaria Zubeidi, who was released as part of a hostage exchange between Hamas and Israel during a Gaza truce in 2025.