Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was hospitalized for the third time in a week on Sunday, although a medical official said the health of the ageing leader was “reassuring.”

It was not immediately known what prompted 82-year-old Abbas to be taken to Istishari Arab Hospital in Ramallah, the PA’s seat of power in the West Bank. A source told AFP that the Palestinian leader was suffering from a high fever.

The indignant Palestinian Authority autocrat, Mahmoud Abbas. – Photo: Reuters

A senior doctor at the medical center was quoted as saying by the Wafa news agency that tests on the leader had “good” results and his overall health was “reassuring.”

Sources with knowledge of his condition said Abbas is weak and has difficulty walking.

Abbas had what was described as “minor ear surgery” in a Ramallah hospital on Tuesday and absent from the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) emergency summit on Gaza on Friday.

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Late Saturday, he returned to hospital for further tests and was released after about 30 minutes later.

While visiting Washington in February, the Palestinian leader was admitted to a hospital in Baltimore for what his advisers said were “routine” check ups.

In an interview with Palestine TV while in the US, 82-year-old Abbas rejected reports he had been rushed to hospital during his visit.

“It was a suitable opportunity to be here to conduct some medical tests, and these tests have been conducted and now we left,” he said after leaving hospital.

“Thank God all the results are positive and reassuring.”

The health of the longtime smoker has long been the subject of speculation, with no clear successor identified.

Abbas won a four-year term as president in 2005, but he has remained in office in the absence of elections.

His Fatah party remains deeply divided from Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip.

i24NEWS senior Middle East correspondent Mohammad Al-Kassim and AFP contributed reporting.