Mahmoud Abbas, the octogenarian Palestinian president, announced on Sunday that his deputy would temporarily assume the leadership of the Palestinian Authority were he to die or step down.
The announcement followed pressure by Arab countries on Mr. Abbas to designate a clear heir for the authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Much of the international community hopes the Palestinian Authority could play a role in postwar Gaza, although Israel rejects its involvement.
Mr. Abbas, 89, has controlled the Palestinian Authority since he was elected to a four-year term in 2005. He has not held presidential elections since and has resisted appointing a realistic heir.
Palestinian commentators said the announcement on succession showed Mr. Abbas, who had long avoided moves that could threaten his grip on power, now seemed to have few options left.
“This decision indicates President Abbas no longer has room to maneuver in the face of international pressure,” said Jehad Harb, an independent Palestinian political analyst.
On Sunday, Mr. Abbas said in a statement carried by official media that were he to vacate the position, the reins would pass to his vice president. That position is held by Hussein al-Sheikh, a longtime aide seen as close to Israel.
Mr. al-Sheikh would hold those powers for up to 90 days before elections would take place to pick a new leader, according to the statement. That window could be extended only once, for another 90 days, in the event of an emergency.
But Palestinian leaders, including Mr. Abbas, have repeatedly promised to hold national elections since they were last held in 2006. They have yet to do so, and many fear it would be little different after Mr. Abbas’s death.
Hamas seized full control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in 2007, and the two sides have been at odds ever since. The authority’s leaders say they hope to regain control of Gaza as part of a pathway to an independent Palestinian state, which Israel opposes.
As part of that effort, European allies have urged Mr. Abbas to overhaul the authority, hold democratic elections and end a system of payments to the families of Palestinians jailed by Israel, including for violent attacks.
In February, the Palestinian Authority announced it would phase out the payments, although Israeli officials have cast doubt on whether it actually intends to do so.
Many Palestinians hoped the Palestinian Authority, created during Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in the 1990s, would one day govern an independent state. But negotiations to that end have foundered.
Israel also withholds large chunks of the Palestinian budget, crippling the authority’s finances.
Some Palestinians now view Mr. Abbas as a collaborator with Israeli rule for his policy of working with Israel to crack down on Palestinian militants in the West Bank, including Hamas. Large majorities regularly call for his resignation in opinion polls.
Many Palestinians would likely view Mr. al-Sheikh, 64, as more of the same. Mr. al-Sheikh previously served as the head of the authority’s civil affairs commission, which handles much of the Palestinian government’s coordination with Israel.
Israeli and American officials frequently describe him as a pragmatic moderate eager to maintain stability. Palestinian critics call him emblematic of Mr. Abbas’s failed approach of working with Israel even as Israel continues its decades-long occupation.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
Adam Rasgon is a reporter for The Times in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
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