Who Is Hussein Al-Sheikh, Front-Runner To Succeed Palestinian President Abbas
Who is Hussein al-Sheikh?
Hussein al-Sheikh was born in 1960 in Ramallah, Palestine, into a refugee family.
Between 1978 and 1989, al-Sheikh was detained by Israeli forces for 11 years. During his imprisonment, he learned Hebrew.
Al-Sheikh became a member of the Unified National Command of the First Intifada (1988).
After the Oslo Accords, al-Sheikh served briefly as a colonel in the Preventive Security Division. He was later appointed as the Secretary-General of Fatah in the West Bank in 1999.
In 2007, al-Sheikh became the head of the General Authority of Civil Affairs, a position he held until February 2025. He was responsible for managing civilian matters and coordinating with Israeli authorities.
Al-Sheikh served as the Minister for the Coordination of Civil Affairs from 2013 to 2019, while retaining his ministerial rank after his term ended.
After the 2014 Gaza war, he was appointed the Palestinian Authority's representative on the Gaza Reconstruction Committee, alongside Israeli and Egyptian representatives.
Hussein Al-Sheikh was first elected to the Fatah Central Committee in 2009 and has been re-elected in 2016, where he has served as the official spokesperson for Fatah.
In 2022, al-Sheikh became a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Later that year, he was appointed Secretary-General of the PLO and Head of the Negotiations Affairs Department.
Al-Sheikh has represented President Abbas in international meetings, including with Gulf Arab countries and the United States. He met with Donald Trump's Mideast envoy earlier this year in Saudi Arabia, AP reported.
In 2017, al-Sheikh became a member of the Palestinian National Dialogue Committee, specifically handling the file of reconciliation.
He serves as the president of Al-Bireh's youth sports club since 2010.
In 2012, he was voted "Best Palestinian Public Figure" in opinion polls.
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Hindustan Times
19 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
More Israelis Question Morality of War in Gaza
TEL AVIV—Dor Eilon held up a poster of an emaciated Gazan child for the first time at an antiwar protest last week. The 29-year-old lawyer had joined dozens of other Israelis as they stood silently in the summer heat at a square in Tel Aviv with the photos in hand. 'It's not moral to ignore this,' said Eilon, who began attending protests to free the hostages several months ago, but now says she feels a duty to highlight the plight of Gazans. 'Usually I hand out stickers and people smile at me. And here people look away from me.' In recent weeks, more Israelis—including prominent public figures—have called to end the war in Gaza while decrying the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave, marking a shift in the public discourse. A majority of former directors of the Israeli military; Mossad; Shin Bet, the country's internal security agency; and the police, called on the Israeli government on Sunday to end the war against Hamas. The cause began as a just one after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, they said. But now it has become futile. While polls in Israel have shown for months that a large majority of Israelis, including on the right, want to end the war in exchange for the hostages, dire conditions in the enclave and the worsening food crisis is spurring more dissent on moral grounds and leaving Israel more internationally isolated than ever. Dor Eilon, in Tel Aviv, demonstrated against the war in Gaza on Thursday. Nightly news reports have featured more Gazans talking about suffering in the strip. Photos of Gazans killed in the war are now more visible in some public spaces such as protests. More than 1,000 leading Israeli artists created a stir when they signed a petition calling to end the killing of children and civilians in Gaza. A large proportion of those who have been killed during the war, 60,000 in all, have been minors, according to Gaza health authorities who don't say how many are combatants. Heads of the country's major universities demanded Israeli authorities do more to help adequate food supplies enter the strip. Israel's most famous living novelist, David Grossman, and a former deputy director of the Mossad spy agency even called the war a genocide as did two Israeli human-rights groups for the first time. Analysts say the growing willingness by Israelis to question the morality of the war is connected to more Israelis asking hard questions about whether Israel can achieve its goal of destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages after almost two years of fighting. While Hamas has been substantially weakened, it is still capable of guerrilla warfare and 20 Israeli hostages remain captive along with the remains of 30 others. Cease-fire talks remain at a stalemate and many Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political survival, which he denies. Netanyahu will convene a security discussion on Tuesday about the fighting in Gaza and its expansion into areas where hostages could be held, an Israeli official said. 'In light of what is happening, there is a need to make our voice heard—a voice of values, compassion,' said Eyal Sher, director of the Israel Festival, who helped organize the petition signed by over 1,000 Israeli artists and musicians in recent days. It is the first time such a large group of cultural figures has voiced its opposition to the war. Antiwar sentiment in Israel has so far been unsuccessful in persuading the country's government to change course. A street in Jaffa, in the south of Tel Aviv, displays photos of Palestinian children killed in Gaza. Some Israelis pushed back against the petition. One of the country's most popular singers, who was injured while fighting in Gaza as a reservist, accused the signatories of spreading lies. Eilon, the protester in Tel Aviv, and other activists were at times confronted by bystanders, telling them they should be ashamed of themselves for spreading lies about people starving in Gaza. Polling also shows that the rise in concern for the suffering is mostly found in Israel's political left and center, according to Tamar Hermann, a pollster and senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute think tank in Jerusalem. A new poll by the institute led by Hermann which was taken at the end of July, showed that 79% of Jewish Israelis weren't personally troubled by reports of famine and suffering by Palestinians in Gaza. But a breakdown of the result showed stark differences based on political views: 70% of Jewish Israelis on the left and 32% of those affiliated with the center said they were personally troubled by reports of famine and suffering in Gaza, compared with just 6% from those on the right. 'There is a very big difference between the camps,' Hermann said. 'It is really as if it isn't the same public opinion. These are people who think totally differently.' Significantly, voters on the right of the spectrum who comprise Netanyahu's core base have barely shifted. The recent outpouring of sentiment to end the war has so far been unsuccessful in persuading the Israeli government to change course. But some analysts say the fact that the dire situation in Gaza is being discussed at all means it has to be confronted. 'We moved from a stage where we really didn't see anything about what is happening in Gaza to public discourse—people are talking about it,' even if they don't agree, said Eran Halperin, a professor of psychology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. 'It is a very significant change.' Up until recently, there was almost no graphic footage of Gazans killed or coverage of their suffering on major Israeli news channels as is widely featured in international media around the world. That is now beginning to change. After her show aired a segment on the way hunger in Gaza is covered around the world, Israeli news anchor Yonit Levi shocked many by saying the negative views of Israel weren't due to a failure of public diplomacy, but what she called 'a moral failure.' Demonstrators in Tel Aviv on Thursday protested against the war in Gaza. In the past few weeks, groups of protesters have held demonstrations outside the studio of Channel 12, Israel's most popular news channel and where Levi works, calling on it to cover suffering in Gaza. Now, more mainstream journalists are covering Palestinians in Gaza and even taking a stand against Israeli actions. 'It is an earthquake compared with what was covered before but it's also a tiny, minuscule movement when you look at what's happening on the ground and how it's being covered elsewhere,' said Ayala Panievsky, a media scholar at City St. George's, University of London. Panievsky's research found that out of over 700 news segments published on Channel 12, during the first six months of the war, only four mentioned civilian casualties in Gaza. Channel 12 declined to comment. In recent weeks there have also been more protests against the war by Israeli Arabs, who make up around 20% of Israeli citizens. While Hermann's poll found that 86% of Israeli Arabs are personally troubled or very troubled about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, this group had stayed mostly quiet up until recently, due to heavy-handed Israeli policing over shows of support for Gaza, even on social media. 'The situation was very difficult in terms of the combativeness of the police, arrests, questioning, intimidation for anyone who tried to show solidarity or protest against the war and the starvation in Gaza. People were very scared,' said Amir Badran, 53, a Jaffa city council member who helped organize a protest against the war attended by dozens of local Arabs and Jews on Friday. A change happened around two weeks ago starting with local protests, he said, and he hoped more people would join. 'People burst, burst out because they can't hold it inside anymore,' Badran said. Amir Badran, a Jaffa city council member, is organizing local demonstrations against the war in Gaza. Write to Anat Peled at More Israelis Question Morality of War in Gaza More Israelis Question Morality of War in Gaza More Israelis Question Morality of War in Gaza More Israelis Question Morality of War in Gaza
News18
29 minutes ago
- News18
Netanyahu Set To Unveil New War Plan, May Order 'Total Conquest Of Gaza'
Last Updated: According to Israeli media, the updated war plan aims to dismantle Hamas and secure the release of dozens of Israeli hostages Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to announce a new military strategy for Gaza, with reports suggesting he may order the complete reoccupation of the Palestinian territory. According to Israeli media, the updated war plan aims to dismantle Hamas and secure the release of dozens of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza since the October 7 attacks. Netanyahu was scheduled to meet top security officials in Jerusalem on Tuesday, including the Chief of Staff, the Defence Minister, and other senior military leaders. While the timing of the meeting has not been officially confirmed, the discussions are believed to focus on expanding military operations and issuing new directives. Public broadcaster Kan reported that Netanyahu 'wants the Israeli army to conquer the entire Gaza Strip," while the private daily Maariv declared, 'The die is cast. We're en route for the total conquest of Gaza." Several unnamed officials told media that the Netanyahu plans to extend operations into areas where hostages may be held. Netanyahu also said he would bring the plan to the cabinet later this week for approval. The developments come as Israeli diplomats convene a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York to draw attention to the hostages' plight. The reported reoccupation plans have already triggered sharp reactions from the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Senior Hamas official Husam Badran told AFP that the group is still committed to talks aimed at ending the war and easing the humanitarian crisis. 'The ball is in the hands of Israel and the Americans," he said. Since the war began in October 2023, over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. Large areas of Gaza have been flattened by Israeli operations, and aid agencies warn of worsening famine conditions for the 2.4 million people living there. Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Netanyahu from multiple sides. Hostage families in Israel continue to demand a ceasefire to bring their loved ones home. Internationally, calls for a truce are growing louder, as are efforts in several European countries to recognise Palestinian statehood, moves strongly opposed by Israel and the United States. Inside his own coalition, Netanyahu is also facing pressure from far-right allies who support the full reoccupation of Gaza and increased control over the occupied West Bank. (With inputs from AFP) view comments First Published: August 05, 2025, 16:46 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Israel mulls new Gaza war plan, full occupation of Palestinian territory on cards
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared Tuesday to unveil an updated Gaza war plan designed to destroy Hamas and secure the release of dozens of hostages, with Israeli media reporting he would order the total occupation of the Palestinian territory. "Netanyahu wants the Israeli army to conquer the entire Gaza Strip," said a report on public broadcaster Kan.(AP) Netanyahu was expected to meet security chiefs in Jerusalem on Tuesday to discuss new orders, local media reported, even as Israel's diplomats convened a UN Security Council meeting in New York to highlight the plight of Israelis held in Gaza. The timing of the security meeting has not been officially confirmed. Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 said Netanyahu would meet the army chief of staff and the defence and army ministers. Unnamed senior officials told Israeli media he intends to order the re-occupation of Gaza. "Netanyahu wants the Israeli army to conquer the entire Gaza Strip," said a report on public broadcaster Kan. Netanyahu also said Monday he would convene the cabinet later in the week to approve the new instructions. "Several cabinet members who spoke with the prime minister confirmed that he has decided to extend the fight to areas where hostages might be held," Kan reported. The private daily Maariv declared: "The die is cast. We're en route for the total conquest of Gaza." However, some major media outlets such as Channel 12 have questioned whether the rumoured expansion of military operations is merely a negotiating tactic, and whether Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir would oppose such a decision. "The Chief of Staff is required to express his professional opinion clearly and unequivocally to the political leadership. I am convinced that he will do so," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X. While the reconquest plan has not been officially confirmed, it has already drawn an angry response from the Palestinian Authority and Gaza's Hamas-run government, which insisted it will not shift its position on ceasefire talks. "The ball is in the hands of... (Israel) and the Americans," senior Hamas official Husam Badran told AFP, adding that the militant group wanted to "end the war and the famine". Desperate families After 22 months of combat sparked by the October 7, 2023 cross-border attacks by Hamas that killed 1,219 people and saw hundreds kidnapped, the Israeli army has devastated large parts of the Palestinian territory. More than 60,933 Palestinians have been killed, according to figures from Hams-run Gaza's health ministry, and humanitarian agencies have warned that the territory's 2.4 million people are slipping into a catastrophic famine. But Netanyahu is under pressure on several fronts. Domestically, the desperate and vocal families of the 49 remaining hostages are demanding a ceasefire to bring their loved ones home. Around the world, humanitarians are pushing for a truce to allow in food to the starving, and several European capitals have announced plans to recognise Palestinian statehood, despite fierce US and Israeli opposition. Meanwhile, Netanyahu's far-right allies in his ruling coalition want to seize the opportunity of the war to reoccupy Gaza and tighten control of the occupied West Bank. Foreign Minister Saar was in New York, where Israel's US ally was helping organise a Security Council meeting to focus world attention on the fate of the hostages. The defence ministry civil affairs agency for the Palestinian territories, COGAT, said Tuesday that Israel will partially reopen private sector trade with Gaza to reduce its reliance on UN and aid agency convoys and international military airdrops. "As part of formulating the mechanism, a limited number of local merchants were approved by the defence establishment, subject to several criteria and strict security screening," COGAT said. Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza for 22 months and imposed a total blockade on March 2, partially lifted in May to allow a US-backed private agency to open food distribution centres. Aid convoys and airdrops by Arab and European militaries resumed last month, as UN-mandated expert reports warned famine was unfolding in the war-torn territory. The COGAT statement said private sector deliveries would be paid for by monitored bank transfers and be subject to inspections by the Israeli military before entering Gaza, "to prevent the involvement of the Hamas terrorist organisation." Staple foods Permitted goods under the new mechanism will include food staples, fruit, vegetables, baby formula and hygiene products, COGAT said. On Monday. Netanyahu insisted Israel's war goals remained "the defeat of the enemy, the release of our hostages and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel". His statement came after hundreds of retired Israeli security chiefs wrote to US President Donald Trump to urge him to convince Netanyahu to end the war, arguing that Israel has already scored a military victory and should seek to negotiate the hostages' release. The families of the hostages are also horrified by talk of escalation, accusing the government of putting their relatives in renewed danger, even as Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad release propaganda videos showing emaciated captives.
