Source says Abbas will ‘most likely’ leave hospital Monday

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas could leave the hospital Sunday or Monday after a week of treatment for pneumonia, a source close to him said on Sunday.

The hospital director, however, said no date had been set for his discharge.

A Palestinian official and a medical source earlier said Abbas could be released from the hospital on Sunday afternoon.

But the source close to him later said doctors were still considering whether the 83-year-old’s condition would allow for it.

His release Sunday “is not confirmed,” the source told AFP.

“It could be today or tomorrow (Monday). Most likely tomorrow,” the source added, on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity surrounding Abbas’s hospitalization.

Hospital director Saeed Sarahneh told the official Wafa news agency that Abbas’s health was rapidly improving, but that no date was set for his discharge.

Abbas was admitted on May 20 to the Istishari Arab Hospital near Ramallah in the West Bank with complications following an ear operation, including high fever.

Officials have since confirmed he was being treated for pneumonia.

His extended hospitalization has led to widespread speculation over his condition, particularly with no successor publicly in line for the PA presidency.

Pictures and video of Abbas walking around the wards and reading a newspaper were published last Monday, in an apparent attempt to calm rumors that his condition was worse than officially reported.

The newspaper Abbas was pictured reading prominently carried a large cartoon on its back page, facing the camera, showing an Israeli soldier taking a baby’s milk away from her and ramming poison down her throat instead.

The cartoon referred to a claim by Gaza’s Hamas health ministry that 8-month-old Layla Ghandour died from inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli troops during violent protests on the Gaza border with Israel on May 14. That claim, which made worldwide headlines, is now disputed and the health ministry has backed away from it.

Abbas, who is a heavy smoker and overweight, has a long history of health issues, ranging from heart trouble to a bout with prostate cancer a decade ago.

In February, he underwent what were described as routine medical tests in the United States.

Abbas won a four-year term as PA president in 2005, but he has since remained in office without further elections.

Abbas argues the split between his Fatah party and Islamist terror group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has made elections politically impossible.

A relative moderate, he has been involved in decades of negotiations with Israel but is increasingly poorly regarded by Israelis, including because of several recent anti-Israel and anti-Semitic speeches. He is also unpopular among Palestinians, with the majority wanting him to step down.