“Abu Mazen will live to one hundred and twenty and bury us all,” joked a senior Israeli officer not long ago, referring to the Palestinian president’s longevity.

But recent hospitalisations of Mahmoud Abbas have once again raised the prospect of a succession battle among the Palestinians. While Mr Abbas’ staff have tried to project an upbeat image, with footage of him walking around the hospital in Ramallah in a dressing gown, reading a newspaper, his latest illness is rumoured to be his most serious yet.

Thirteen years since he was elected Palestinian president — no election has been held since — the 82-year-old Mr Abbas is not showing any inclination to name a successor or announce retirement.

Nature may be doing its own, but even if he perseveres, Mr Abbas is seen as a discredited and spent force, incapable of uniting the Palestinians behind him. If he is forced by ill health to resign in the near future, there is no designated successor — certainly not for all the positions Mr Abbas holds, including chairman of the Palestinian Authority, of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the leadership of Fatah, the main PLO faction.

Many assume that should he leave office before a successor is chosen, the PA and Fatah will be led for an interim period by a group of veterans that would include Mahmoud al-Aloul, Fatah’s deputy chief; Majid Faraj, the commander of intelligence in the West Bank; and the former security chief Jibril Rajoub, who remains influential.

Any of these three could eventually become leader in place of Mr Abbas, but there are other likely contenders. These include Fatah chieftain Marwan Barghouti, currently serving multiple life sentences in an Israeli prison for directing the murder of Israeli civilians in the Second Intifada, and the exiled Mahmoud Dahlan, Fatah’s former security chief in Gaza, who long ago ran afoul of Mr Abbas, but is thought to have the backing of Egypt and various Gulf leaders.

A succession struggle could also reignite tensions between Fatah and Hamas, with the new prime minister of Gaza, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, also known to harbour ambitions to become the Palestinians’ next leader.