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Several Scenarios for Safe Transition of Palestinian Presidency after Abbas

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he delivers a speech in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Reuters
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he delivers a speech in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Reuters
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Several Scenarios for Safe Transition of Palestinian Presidency after Abbas

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he delivers a speech in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Reuters
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he delivers a speech in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Reuters

Ramallah- Hamas movement has ignited the battle over the early succession of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by announcing that the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council would assume his position if Abbas could not carry out his duties.

"The Palestinian basic law stipulates that if the president's health deteriorates, if he dies or can not carry out his job, then the president of the Legislative Council (parliament) should assume his position for 60 days in preparation for holding elections," said Ahmad Bahar, a leader in the Islamic Movement that governs Gaza Strip.

Bahar recalled a similar incident in 2004, when former President Yasser Arafat passed away and was replaced by Speaker of the Parliament - back then Rouhi Fattouh. He stressed that the National Council has nothing to do with this matter.

Bahar's statements came amid rising fears of a vacuum in the Palestinian political system after Abbas, especially following a slight setback in his health that demanded him to do some medical tests in Ramallah.

While Hamas says that Speaker of the Legislative Council Aziz Duwaik, pro-Hamas, will succeed Abbas, Fatah is preparing for a totally different plan and is discussing different scenarios, but it will first elect a new executive committee for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The National Council will convene a meeting at any time before the end of the year to elect a new Executive Committee for the PLO. Fatah officials say the election of a new committee comes within the framework of renewing Palestinian legitimacy. Yet, observers say that it also paves the way for a safe and smooth transition of power.

They are not only Palestinian concerns but also Arab as well as Israeli. The Israeli security services have put forward several post-Abbas scenarios.

It is believed that Fatah movement will elect one of its members in the Central Committee for membership of the Executive Committee of the PLO, and this will be, according to the Fathawi Khales’s concept, the closest person nominated to succeed Abbas.

Notably, there is still no vice president for Abbas since the basic constitution of the Palestinian Authority (PA) does not include the position of vice president, but there is a deputy to the president of Fatah movement, who is Mahmoud al-Aloul, the former governor of Nablus.

The other scenario might lead to reconciliation with Hamas and carrying out new public elections.

With this legal dispute and with the absence of a vice president, fears of a vacuum in the Palestinian political system are growing.

These concerns are not only limited to Palestinians but also to Arabs and Israelis as the Israeli security services put several scenarios for the post-Abbas era.

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Business

Saudi Tourism Development Fund Partnerships Exceed $1.1 Billion  

The view of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The view of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Tourism Development Fund Partnerships Exceed $1.1 Billion  

The view of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The view of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Tourism Development Fund (TDF) has signed new partnerships with government and private entities with a financial impact exceeding SAR 4 billion ($1.1 billion), as part of its role in expanding financing for small and medium-sized tourism enterprises across the Kingdom.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Fahad Al-Ashgar, General Manager of Business Development at TDF, said the fund offers tailored empowerment programs for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“We have a clear success story,” he said, noting that the fund has financed 2,500 enterprises with the support of its partners in recent years. This financing has helped create and sustain 74,000 jobs in Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector.

Al-Ashgar made these remarks during the Development Finance Conference held last week under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Development Fund, as part of the Momentum 2025 platform themed “Leading Development Transformation,” in the Saudi capital.

Empowering tourism

Al-Ashgar added that TDF acts as an enabler of the tourism sector and has signed six agreements under its Tourism Enablement Programs, targeting MSMEs across all regions of the Kingdom.

These initiatives complement the fund’s direct financing, which supports both foreign and domestic investment, in addition to a memorandum of understanding signed with the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank.

Established in 2020, the Tourism Development Fund aims to enable and attract tourism investment and stimulate sectoral development by creating more profitable projects that contribute to developing tourism destinations.

The fund is one of six newly established funds created to support Saudi Vision 2030 goals, according to National Development Fund Governor Stephen Paul Groff in earlier remarks.

TDF CEO Qusai Al-Fakhri said the average annual number of beneficiaries has increased tenfold, while the volume of financing has more than doubled compared to previous years.

The fund goes beyond financing to build an integrated enablement ecosystem that creates new investment opportunities, strengthens development finance, empowers the private sector, and ensures inclusive growth across all regions, enabling MSMEs to contribute to national development, he added.

Partnership details

Recent partnerships include the launch of a new financing program with the Kafalah Program, with a market value estimated at SAR 700 million ($190 million), in cooperation with more than 45 financing entities. Previous collaboration enabled over 2,000 enterprises to obtain financing guarantees exceeding SAR 2 billion ($530 million).

The fund also signed a new SAR 300 million ($80 million) financing agreement with the Arab National Bank, adding to a similar agreement signed last year that benefited 249 enterprises within one year.

TDF confirmed that more than 10,000 enterprises have benefited to date from the Tourism Enablement Programs, as part of broader efforts to increase MSME participation in tourism and diversify projects across the Kingdom, in line with Vision 2030 growth objectives.

World

Australia to Toughen Gun Laws after Deadly Bondi Shootings

Police patrol in the early morning following a shooting Sunday at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Police patrol in the early morning following a shooting Sunday at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
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Australia to Toughen Gun Laws after Deadly Bondi Shootings

Police patrol in the early morning following a shooting Sunday at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Police patrol in the early morning following a shooting Sunday at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's leaders agreed on Monday to tougher gun laws after the country's worst mass shooting in almost three decades saw a father and son open fire on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people including a child.

The duo fired into crowds packing the Sydney beach for the start of Hanukkah on Sunday evening, sending people fleeing in panic across the tourist hotspot, said AFP.

A 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor and a local rabbi were among those killed, while 42 more were rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds and other injuries.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a meeting of the leaders of Australia's states and territories in response, agreeing with them "to strengthen gun laws across the nation".

Albanese's office said they had agreed to look into ways to improve background checks for firearm owners, bar non-nationals from obtaining gun licenses and limit the types of weapons that are legal.

Mass shootings have been rare in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 people in the tourist town of Port Arthur in 1996.

That massacre led to sweeping reforms that were long seen as a gold standard worldwide.

These included a gun buyback scheme, a national firearms register and a crackdown on the ownership of semi-automatic weapons.

But Sunday's shootings have raised fresh questions on how the father and son -- who public broadcaster ABC reported had possible links to the ISIS group -- obtained the weapons.

- 'We thought it was fireworks' -

Police are still unravelling what drove the shootings, although authorities have said it was clearly designed to sow terror among the nation's Jews.

Albanese called it "an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores".

The gunmen targeted an annual celebration that drew more than 1,000 people to the beach to mark the Jewish festival.

They took aim from a raised boardwalk looking over the beach, which was packed with swimmers cooling off on a steamy summer evening.

Witness Beatrice was celebrating her birthday and had just blown out the candles when the shooting started.

"We thought it was fireworks," she told AFP.

"We're just feeling lucky we're all safe."

Carrying long-barreled guns, they peppered the beach with bullets for 10 minutes before police shot and killed the 50-year-old father.

The 24-year-old son was arrested and remained under guard in hospital with serious injuries.

Hours after the shooting, police found a homemade bomb in a car parked close to the beach, saying the "improvised explosive device" had likely been planted by the pair.

Rabbi Mendel Kastel said his brother-in-law was among the dead.

"It's unbelievable that this has happened here in Australia, but we need to hold strong. This is not the Australia that we know. This is not the Australia that we want."

Wary of reprisals, police have so far dodged questions about the attackers' religion or ideological motivations.

Misinformation spread quickly online in the wake of the attacks, some of it targeting immigrants and the Muslim community.

Police said they responded to reports on Monday of several pig heads left at a Muslim cemetery in southwestern Sydney.

- Panic and bravery -

A brave few dashed towards the beach as the shooting unfolded, wading through fleeing crowds to rescue children, treat the injured and confront the gunmen.

Footage showed one man, identified by local media as fruit seller Ahmed al Ahmed, grabbing one of the gunmen as he fired.

The 43-year-old wrestled the gun out of the attacker's hands, before pointing the weapon at him as he backed away.

A team of off-duty lifeguards sprinted across the sand to drag children to safety.

"The team ran out under fire to try and clear children from the playground while the gunmen were firing," said Steven Pearce from Surf Life Saving New South Wales.

Bleeding victims were carried across the beach atop surfboards turned into makeshift stretchers.

A grassy hill overlooking Bondi Beach was strewn with discarded items from people fleeing the killing, including a camping table and blankets.

People gathered flip-flops, sneakers and thermos flasks and lined them up in the sand for collection.

Australia mourned the dead by lowering flags to half-mast.

And at Bondi beach on Monday evening, a crowd gathered to mourn and sing in tribute to the victims.

- 'Oil on the fire' -

A string of antisemitic attacks has spread fear among Jewish communities in Australia following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia's government of "pouring oil on the fire of antisemitism" in the months leading up to the shooting.

Other world leaders expressed revulsion and condemnation, including in the United States where President Donald Trump said it was a "purely antisemitic attack".

The Australian government this year accused Iran of orchestrating a recent wave of antisemitic attacks and expelled Tehran's ambassador nearly four months ago.

Tehran directed the torching of a kosher cafe in Sydney's Bondi suburb in October 2024, and a major arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December 2024, the government said in August citing intelligence findings.

Business

Gulf Development Boom Redefines the Consulting Industry

The consulting market in the Gulf is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by rising expectations, intensifying competition, and the pursuit of long-term value (Asharq Al-Awsat). 
The consulting market in the Gulf is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by rising expectations, intensifying competition, and the pursuit of long-term value (Asharq Al-Awsat). 
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Gulf Development Boom Redefines the Consulting Industry

The consulting market in the Gulf is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by rising expectations, intensifying competition, and the pursuit of long-term value (Asharq Al-Awsat). 
The consulting market in the Gulf is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by rising expectations, intensifying competition, and the pursuit of long-term value (Asharq Al-Awsat). 

The rapid acceleration of development programs across the Gulf, powered by national visions and landmark mega-projects, is transforming not only the region’s economies but also the consulting industry that supports them.

As governments and companies pursue unprecedented scale and ambition, they are increasingly seeking advisory partners capable of delivering measurable impact, practical execution, and long-term capability building, rather than strategies that remain confined to paper.

Recent studies indicate that as investment levels rise and expectations intensify, the central challenge is no longer the formulation of bold strategies, but their translation into tangible economic and institutional outcomes.

This shift has reshaped the consulting landscape, raising the bar for performance at a time when traditional advisory models are no longer sufficient. Clients now demand integrated solutions that generate real change, embed knowledge, and create value that extends well beyond theoretical recommendations.

According to a study by Strategy&, obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, governments and companies across the region are increasingly prioritizing multidisciplinary expertise that combines global perspective with deep local understanding. In this new environment, a consulting firm’s credibility is defined by its ability to convert recommendations into measurable, on-the-ground results.

Jad Hajj, Managing Director and Regional Leader of Strategy& Middle East, part of the PricewaterhouseCoopers network, said ambitious transformation agendas will remain central to the region’s future.

“What distinguishes the current phase is the growing emphasis on sustainable value,” he said. “Governments and private-sector companies are looking for partners who can deliver outcomes, integrate knowledge transfer across the value chain, and bring a deep understanding of local priorities.”

The sector’s growth has attracted a broader range of players, from specialized local firms and in-house advisory teams within government entities and corporations, to technology companies offering innovative consulting services. This diversification is reshaping the market and intensifying competition. “This environment compels all participants to clearly demonstrate the value they bring,” Hajj added.

Mega-Projects and Integrated Ecosystems

Mega-projects and economic diversification initiatives across the Gulf underscore the importance of value creation in this phase, as they reshape regional economies at scale. The central challenge lies in execution, ensuring that investments translate into lasting economic impact by building integrated ecosystems, strengthening institutional and industrial capabilities, and embedding technology and artificial intelligence to support long-term growth.

These dynamics are most evident in Saudi Arabia, the largest and fastest-growing consulting market in the Gulf. Flagship developments such as the Red Sea destination and Qiddiya continue to advance the Kingdom’s diversification agenda and drive transformation across multiple sectors.

This fast-evolving environment requires consulting firms to strengthen coordination during execution, apply rigorous performance measurement, and deliver targeted insights aligned with national priorities to maximize impact.

“We are experiencing a fundamental transformation across all sectors, and consulting is no exception,” Hajj stated, adding: “Clients now expect a seamless link between strategy and execution, which requires close collaboration with local partners and sustained capability building. At the same time, innovations such as artificial intelligence are reshaping delivery models and governance to ensure lasting results.”

Technology and Gulf Talent

Artificial intelligence sits at the center of the consulting sector’s evolution, offering both efficiency gains and structural change. Hajj noted that AI enables faster and deeper analysis, allowing consultants to devote more time to stakeholder engagement and long-term strategic design.

AI is also narrowing the gap between strategy and execution by overcoming scale and capability constraints and enabling firms to provide practical tools that help clients implement strategies and track outcomes. While AI enhances speed and quality, Hajj emphasized that critical judgment, accountability, and sector insight remain core human responsibilities.

Alongside technological change, firms are investing in local talent development to ensure sustainable impact. Strategy& has launched initiatives such as the 10-month “Qadat Program for Gulf Nationals,” aimed at equipping high-potential graduates with hands-on experience and leadership skills to support national visions.

A Rapidly Evolving Market

The Gulf consulting market is undergoing rapid change, driven by higher expectations, intensifying competition, and a growing focus on long-term value. Success is no longer measured by advice alone, but by the tangible outcomes delivered and the capabilities embedded within organizations after projects conclude.

Hajj underlined: “This region is redefining what it means to be a trusted advisor... Clients expect measurable results, capability building, and sustained engagement. While the journey continues, this is a pivotal moment to contribute meaningfully to the region’s long-term ambitions.”