Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, Reported Hospitalized

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, was hospitalized in the West Bank on Sunday, doctors and Palestinian officials said, giving conflicting accounts of the leader’s condition.

It is the third time Mr. Abbas, 82, has been hospitalized in less than a week. He is expected to stay at least overnight.

Mr. Abbas underwent minor ear surgery on Tuesday but went back into al-Istishari Hospital in Ramallah briefly overnight on Saturday/Sunday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

He was then rushed back later on Sunday, for what doctors described only as “medical tests”.

Dr. Saed al-Sarahneh, medical director of the hospital, spoke outside the private hospital late Sunday, saying that Mr. Abbas had entered in the morning “for medical tests after the surgery he had three days ago in his middle ear. All the tests are normal and his medical condition is reassuring.”

The Palestine Liberation Organization, which is headed by Mr. Abbas, said on its Twitter account that Palestine’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, had visited the leader in hospital and quoted Mr. Erekat as saying: “the President is in good health”.

An aide to Mr. Erekat said that Mr. Abbas had talked and joked with him, and that Abbas was expected to leave hospital tomorrow or the day after.

One Palestinian official in Ramallah said Mr. Abbas had gone back in because of complications after Tuesday’s ear surgery. Mr. Abbas had been running a high temperature, he said, “so doctors advised that he go back into hospital”.

Mr. Abbas, a heavy smoker, was hospitalized in the United States for medical checks in February during a trip to address the U.N. Security Council.

The Western-backed leader became Palestinian president after the death in 2004 of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat. He pursued U.S.-led peace talks with Israel but the negotiations broke down in 2014.