The Palestinian parliament will convene next month for a rare session and discuss U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a U.S. policy change that outraged Palestinians, an official said on Wednesday.
The 700-member body last met in 2009, in what was termed an emergency session, to replace six of the 18 members of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the largest party in the parliament.
"The Palestinian National Council will convene on April 30th to discuss challenges to the Palestinian cause, especially after the U.S. decision against Jerusalem," PLO official Wassel Abu Yousef said, using the parliament's formal name.
He said the decision to hold what he called a "regular session" of parliament in Ramallah was made at a PLO Executive Committee meeting chaired by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Palestinian leaders said after Trump's Dec. 6 declaration on Jerusalem that Washington could no longer take the lead in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
Trump's announcement and the planned move in May of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem reversed decades of U.S. policy on the city, whose status is one of the biggest obstacles to reaching a peace agreement.
Abu Yousef said members of parliament from the Palestinian territories and in exile would also elect members to the executive committee and the PLO's Central Council to replace several who have died and others whom political sources said Abbas wants replaced.
The 18-member committee is the top Palestinian decision-making body. But it is dominated by an aging leadership and it has struggled to function properly in recent years. One member recently died, while at least two others have been weakened by health issues.
Abbas, who turns 83 this month, has never designated a successor, despite suffering from a number of health issues.
Although the meeting is not meant to choose a successor, the composition of the new executive committee could give a strong indication of who the front-runners will be.
During a trip to the United States last month, Abbas was briefly hospitalized for what officials downplayed as routine tests. Nonetheless, it drew attention to the looming leadership gap and what is expected to be a fierce power struggle in the future.
Usually, the No. 2 in the executive committee succeeds the president when he leaves for any reason. That spot is currently held by Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. But Erekat recently underwent a lung transplant, which raised questions as to whether he would remain on the job.
The two front-runners are believed to be Jibril Rajoub, a former security chief and current head of the Palestinian football association, and Mahmoud Aloul, a former PLO chief in Lebanon. Both men are on the committee.
The PNC last held a regular session in 1996, in the presence of then-U.S. President Bill Clinton. At that meeting, the parliament voted in favor of amending clauses in the PLO's charter that advocated Israel's destruction.
A Palestinian general election has not been held since 2006, when the national ballot was won by the Hamas terrorist group. Hamas seized the Gaza Strip in 2007 from forces loyal to Abbas after a unity government collapsed.
While Hamas lawmakers are eligible to participate in the upcoming Palestinian National Council meeting, the group said it would not do so.
Ismail Radwan, a Hamas official, said the group objected to the council meeting "in its current formula."
"Convening it this way violates the national agreements and it boosts the Palestinian split," he said. He said a new national council should be selected first.
