Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas resigned from his position as executive committee leader over the weekend, marking the end of an era for the Palestine Liberation Front (PLO). Abbas’ departure was mirrored by more than half of the committee’s members, prompting the launch of a new general election next month.
Abbas has threatened to step down before amid political stalemates with Israeli counterparts and international observers after last summer's Gaza war, but there might be other goals at play here.
Fatah official Faisal Abu Shahla told teleSUR news this week the move was not so much a resignation, but a reshuffling.
"It is not a resignation." he said, "The executive committee found the need for complete change of the committee after all these years."
Then on Monday, Abbas claimed a trip to Palestine's "sister" country Iran was in the works, despite long-rocky relations between the two. Tehran has denied such a meeting.
Meanwhile, news and social media has been eerily quiet on the PLO’s changes since Saturday. It's hard to tell what the resignations will mean for the West Bank long term, but right now it seems like no one's quite sure what to make of any of it.
Watch the full teleSUR interview below.
