The Palestinian leadership approved the creation of the position of vice president of Mahmoud Abbas, and possibly his successor, on Thursday, a step widely seen as needed to assuage international doubts over Palestinian leadership.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Reuters/Mohammed Torokman
The Palestinian leadership approved the creation of the position of vice president of Mahmoud Abbas, and possibly his successor, on Thursday, a step widely seen as needed to assuage international doubts over Palestinian leadership.
A statement published by state news agency WAFA said 170 members of the Palestinian Central Council, the Palestinians' highest decision-making body, voted in favour of the decision, while one member voted against it and another abstained.
They have not immediately appointed someone to the role. According to the statement, Abbas has the right to assign tasks to the deputy, relieve him of his post, or accept his resignation.
Abbas, 89, has headed the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the death of veteran leader Yasser Arafat in 2004 but has for years resisted internal reforms, including the naming of a successor.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority exercises limited rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and has not governed Gaza since fighting a civil war with Hamas in 2007.
Reporting by Ali Sawafta and Nidal al-Mughrabi
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that the military would never fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip for security reasons and that a civilian-military army unit would be established in the Palestinian enclave.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, met on Monday with Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi, FM of Oman, to review bilateral relations and discuss regional and international developments.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday he called Israeli President Isaac Herzog and invited him to visit Australia, expressing his shock and dismay over the attack at the Jewish community Chanukah event on Bondi Beach last week.
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