PA President Mahmoud Abbas hospitalized for third time in a week

The PA news agency did not explicitly state if the checks on Sunday were related to the ear surgery Abbas underwent, but it noted that they took place “following the operation.”

By REUTERS
Updated: MAY 21, 2018 11:11
Palestinian Authority President Abbas's medical condition is reassuring, says hospital director, May 20, 2018 (Reuters)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has been hospitalized in the West Bank, Palestinian officials said on Sunday, giving conflicting accounts on the leader’s condition.
It was the third time Abbas, 83, was hospitalized in a week. He underwent minor ear surgery on Tuesday and was hospitalized again briefly on Saturday and Sunday for “necessary medical checks,” the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said.
The Wafa report added that following the examinations on Saturday, “it became evident” that the results of the surgery were “excellent.” The news agency did not explicitly state if the exams on Sunday were related to the surgery, but noted that they took place “following the operation.”
One Palestinian official said Abbas returned to the hospital on Sunday due to complications after the surgery. Abbas’s temperature was high, he said, “so doctors advised that he return to the hospital.”
However, a source at Al Istishari Hospital in Ramallah, where Abbas was treated, said the PA president’s condition was unrelated to the operation. “The president will stay in the hospital until tomorrow. He is being given antibiotics to treat an inflammation in the chest,” the hospital source said. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media.
In a conflicting report, Kan News tweeted that Abbas’s fever was in fact related to his ear operation and that he would be hospitalized overnight.
Istishari medical director Said Sarahneh said that the results of the checks Abbas underwent on Sunday were “good.”
The PLO Negotiation Affairs Department tweeted that top negotiator Saeb Erekat visited Abbas on Sunday and said he was “in good health.”
A cardiologist was recently added to Abbas’s staff to monitor his health, a Palestinian source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Jerusalem Post in March.
The heart specialist, a German-Palestinian, has been working at the PA presidential headquarters in Ramallah alongside Abbas’s longtime personal doctor, the source said in a phone call at the time.
Abbas also recently underwent medical checks in Maryland involving a biopsy, Fatah Central Committee member Jibril Rajoub told official PA television in March, adding that the results of the examination showed the PA president was healthy.
Biopsies are typically performed to analyze possible abnormalities that appear on X-rays or scans, a US-based radiologist said in a phone call in March.
In October 2016, Abbas underwent a cardiac catheterization – a procedure used to diagnose and treat heart problems, which doctors said showed normal results.