Abbas
AbbasReuters

Senior Fatah officials are stepping up the preparations for the succession struggle over the position of Palestinian Authority chairman, which will open up as soon as Mahmoud Abbas announces that he is ending his term of office, Kan reported.

According to the report, the various candidates for the position have begun to accumulate weapons for the struggle, and recently began to recruit armed Tanzim operatives who will stand by them for money, favors and alliances to strengthen their status in the PA.

It was also reported that the leading candidate for the replacement of Abbas, both in power and in terms of status, is former preventive intelligence chief and sports minister in the Authority, Jibril Rajoub.

However, there are other prominent names of candidates engaged in recruiting armed men and collecting money, ahead of the fight for the job.

In this context, Tawfiq Tirawi, former head of Palestinian Authority intelligence, Majed Faraj, the current head of Palestinian Authority intelligence and his ally, Mahmoud al-Aalul, who serves as deputy head of Fatah, are mentioned.

Abbas has threatened in recent years that he intends to end his term but has not yet acted on his threat. The belief in the PA is that if there are no exceptional medical circumstances, he will continue to hold the position for as long as he can.