Ageing and ailing, who will succeed current Palestinian leaders?

Palestinian politics is a relentless and often fruitless pursuit: after more than two decades of on-off negotiations, a state remains out of reach. Now add to the mix rising age and failing health.

President Mahmoud Abbas, who will be 83 in March, has been in hospital for frequent check-ups in recent months and received treatment abroad. His chief peace negotiator, Saeb Erekat, is 20 years younger and a keen runner, but he is suffering from pulmonary fibrosis and needs a lung transplant.

…

“The situation is ripe for a power vacuum,” said Grant Rumley, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington and co-author of a biography of Abbas.

…

Read more here.