Fatah veteran Hussein al-Sheikh has been appointed deputy chair of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
This puts him in line to succeed the 89-year-old leader of both, Mahmoud Abbas who is president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) as well.
The appointment of al-Sheikh follows years of international pressure to reform the PLO, brought to the fore as Arab and Western actors envision an expanded role for the PA in the post-war governance of the Gaza Strip.
The vice presidency was created during the 32nd session of the Palestinian Central Council in Ramallah earlier this week, and al-Sheikh’s appointment officially approved on Saturday.
Al-Sheikh’s career
Al-Sheikh, 64, is a veteran leader of Abbas’s Fatah movement, which dominates the PA, and is considered close to the president.
Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, said al-Sheikh has been “groomed for the past 18 years” by Abbas.
“He [al-Sheikh] has been around since 2007 after Abbas took over after the split between Gaza and the occupied West Bank,” Bishara said, noting that the new deputy leader has been the main person coordinating with Israel on security matters.
“The Israelis know him and trust him – more than they know and trust Abbas.”
Since 2007, he has served as the head of the General Authority of Civil Affairs, the authority that handles a lot of coordination with Israel in the occupied West Bank.
In 2022, he was made the PLO Executive Committee’s secretary-general and head of its negotiations department, a sensitive portfolio, demonstrating his close ties to Abbas.
Abbas also recently appointed him as the head of a committee overseeing Palestinian diplomatic missions abroad.
Early life
Al-Sheikh was born in Ramallah in 1960 to a merchant family that had been ethnically cleansed from their village during the 1948 Nakba.
At the age of six, he saw Israel occupy the West Bank, which likely pushed him to join Fatah at a young age. He was imprisoned by Israel as a teenager, spending 10 years behind bars, from 1978 to 1988.
During his imprisonment, he learned Hebrew, a skill that would place him in a good position to negotiate with Israel later on.
When he was released, he remained with Fatah and climbed the ranks.
He is the father of four daughters and two sons.
What comes next
In the event of Abbas’s death or resignation, the deputy chair would be expected to become the acting head of the PLO and of the State of Palestine, which is recognised by nearly 150 countries.
Concerns have been growing within the PLO that Israel might exploit Abbas’s departure and a possible power vacuum.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim gave al-Sheikh’s appointment a frosty reception.
“The Palestinian people are not a herd to have imposed upon them leaders with dubious history who have tied their present and future to the occupation,” he said in a statement.
“Legitimacy is held only by the Palestinian people… The guardianship over our people is long gone.”
The PLO is an umbrella organisation comprising several Palestinian political factions. But it excludes Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, which are currently fighting Israeli forces in Gaza and are at odds with Abbas.
Founded in 1964, the PLO is empowered to negotiate and sign international treaties on behalf of the Palestinian people, while the PA is responsible for governing parts of the Palestinian territory, particularly the occupied West Bank.
