Mahmoud Abbas
President of Palestine since 2005
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| March 2025 | Abbas announces the upcoming legislative election and creates a new vice presidential post, signaling potential political transition. |
| 2024 | Abbas reached an all-time low approval rating of 29%, with 59% of Palestinians disapproving of him. |
| November 28 2024 | At age 89, Mahmoud Abbas nominates Rawhi Fattouh as his temporary successor in response to growing calls for him to quit, with the intention of holding elections in the future. |
| February 2024 | Abbas calls the Al-Rashid humanitarian aid incident an 'ugly massacre' perpetrated by the 'Israeli occupation army'. |
| 2023 | Abbas' approval rating further declined to 32%, with nearly 90% of Palestinians wanting him to resign as support for Hamas grew. |
| 2023 | Made a state visit to China, holding talks with President Xi Jinping and meeting with Premier Li Keqiang. |
| 2023 | During the Israel-Hamas war, Abbas rejects civilian killings, calls for release of prisoners, and declares three days of mourning after the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion. |
| August 2023 | Delivered a speech to the Fatah Revolutionary Council making antisemitic claims about Hitler and Jews, resulting in international condemnation and the rescinding of his Medal of the City of Paris by Mayor Anne Hidalgo. |
| July 2023 | Abbas met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an effort by Turkey to reconcile Fatah with Hamas. |
| 2022 | Abbas' approval rating fell to 40%. |
| August 2022 | During a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, made controversial remarks about Israel and the Holocaust, leading to widespread condemnation. |
| 2021 | Nearly 80% of Palestinians expressed desire for Abbas to resign. |
| 2021 | Local elections in Palestine are held amidst a rift between Abbas and Hamas, after he indefinitely postponed presidential and parliamentary elections. |
| June 2021 | Faced protests in Ramallah by hundreds of Palestinians against his administration's corruption and brutality, following the death of anti-corruption activist Nizar Banat in government custody. |
| January 2019 | Accepted the chairmanship of the United Nations' Group of 77, a coalition of 134 mainly developing nations and China, on behalf of Palestine. Was handed the gavel by Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry. |
| 2018 | Abbas' approval ratings slightly recovered to 50%. |
| 2017 | Abbas' approval ratings dropped to 45%. |
| 2016 | Revealed in the Panama Papers data leak that his son Tareq Abbas held millions in shares of an offshore company associated with the Palestinian Authority. |
| August 2015 | Abbas announces his resignation as chairman of the PLO executive committee and calls for an emergency PNC meeting, which is subsequently postponed. |
| 2014 | Abbas again reached a peak approval rating of 64%. |
| December 2014 | Abbas signs an application for Palestine to join the International Criminal Court, a diplomatic 'last resort' after a UN Security Council resolution failure. |
| April 2014 | Hamas withdraws its objection to Abbas's presidency to form a Unity Government with Fatah. |
| September 2013 | A libel lawsuit filed by his son Yasser Abbas against Foreign Policy Group LLC was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan using D.C.'s anti-SLAPP measure. |
| 2012 | Mahmoud Abbas reached peak approval rating of 64%. |
| July 2012 | Publicly accused former U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice of fabricating a conversation about Palestinian refugees, denying a specific quote she attributed to him. |
| July 10 2012 | Faced criticism in the US Congress during a hearing titled 'Chronic Kleptocracy: Corruption Within the Palestinian Political Establishment', where his and his sons' alleged corruption was discussed. |
| February 2010 | Visited Japan for the third time as Palestinian president, meeting Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. Notably became the first Palestinian leader to visit Hiroshima, where he spoke about the suffering of the city, drawing parallels to Palestinian experiences. |
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