Abbas Hospitalized For Exhaustion And Stress
Image by getty images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was hospitalized in Ramallah on Saturday for what his spokesman called a routine medical checkup.
But doctors and Palestinian officials speaking anonymously on Sunday told media outlets that Abbas, 82, was hospitalized due to exhaustion and stress.
Abbas is overweight and a heavy smoker, though he reportedly recently switched to electronic cigarettes. He had a cardiac cauterization in October 2016 after suffering chest pains, a procedure he also had in 2008 and 2005. He had prostate surgery in the United States in 2001.
Abbas, who has been PA president for more than a decade, has not yet appointed a successor in case his health deteriorates.
Haaretz reported Sunday that the Israeli defense establishment is concerned about what it believes is the deteriorating health of Abbas, which would lead to a political changing of the guard at the PA.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
