21st May, 2018
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas remained in hospital on Monday after suffering from a fever following an operation on his ear, an Arab-Israeli Lawmaker with close ties to the leader said.
The 83-year-old has numerous health complications.
Abbas was taken to hospital on Sunday in what the hospital director said was a post-surgery check up, however, Palestinian official Saeb Erekat later told Israeli public broadcasting that Abbas had a fever.
“There is a clear improvement in his condition from yesterday. He is receiving antibiotic treatment,’’ Ahmad Tibi, an Arab lawmaker in Israel, told Israel’s Army Radio.
Tibi did not provide further details on why Abbas was in hospital.
There is no clear successor to the heavy-smoking octogenarian who was elected to a four-year term as president of the Palestinian Authority government in 2005.
Since the expiration of his term, Abbas has continued his rule in the absence of Palestinian national elections.
Tibi said Abbas has switched to “artificial’’ cigarettes, presumably electronic cigarettes, he said.
“It’s preferable that he doesn’t smoke,’’ Tibi added.
In October 2016, Abbas underwent a cardiac catheterisation – a procedure used to diagnose and treat heart problems, which doctors said showed normal results.