Abbas' health sees 'clear improvement': lawmaker

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' health has seen a "clear improvement" after he was taken to hospital with a fever, said an Arab lawmaker close to the 83-year-old leader. 

Abbas was hospitalised on Sunday, just days after undergoing ear surgery. The Fatah leader has gone through a number of health scares recently, raising conerns about a dangerous succession battle. 

Ahmad Tibi, the Arab lawmaker in Israel's parliament, said he could be discharged as early as Tuesday. 

Palestinian officials on Sunday had said that Abbas has pneumonia and was on a respirator, receiving antibiotics intravenously. They said he was conscious and lucid.

Abbas, who is a heavy smoker and overweight, has a long history of health issues, ranging from heart trouble to a bout with prostate cancer a decade ago. Two years ago, he underwent an emergency heart procedure after suffering exhaustion and chest pains.

More recently, a cardiologist moved into the presidential compound in Ramallah to monitor the longtime leader after a mysterious hospital visit in the United States, following Abbas' address to the UN Security Council in which he appeared weak.

Abbas, who insists he is fine, has refused to designate a successor. But after more than a decade of avoiding discussion of the post-Abbas era, Palestinian officials acknowledge that they are concerned, and potential successors are quietly jockeying for position. 

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Abbas took over as a caretaker leader following the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004, in what was supposed to be a five-year term. He has remained in control since then, governing the West Bank, while a political split with rival Hamas has prevented new elections. 

Abbas is favoured among the West, but most Palestinians oppose his leadership.

A September poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found 67 per cent want him to resign, with the figure rising to 80 per cent in the Gaza Strip.

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