Top Palestinian leader accuses authority of institutional corruption

A former Palestinian Authority intelligence chief on Tuesday publicly accused the Palestinian leadership of allowing systemic corruption to flourish within its institutions, in a rare appeal addressed directly to President Mahmud Abbas.

In an open letter, Tawfiq al-Tirawi, 77, said he had repeatedly alerted the Palestinian president to cases of graft, but to no avail.

"The corruption system now operates with confidence and immunity," wrote Tirawi, a senior member of the Fatah central committee led by Abbas, whose presidential mandate expired in 2009.

Tirawi alleged the involvement of businesses and individuals in the takeover of public and private lands and assets, describing what he called a "moral and ethical collapse" of Palestinian institutions.

He also accused aides around Abbas, who is in his 90s, of "deliberately hiding the truth" from him.

Tirawi said that after consulting with other Fatah figures, he decided to make the issue public, warning that if the situation persists he would disclose details of specific cases to the media.

"Did our people make all these sacrifices -- martyrs, prisoners and wounded -- only for us to reach a stage where thieves and land brokers are left to spread corruption without deterrence or accountability?" Tirawi wrote.

His remarks come at a particularly fraught moment for Palestinian society, after more than two years of war in the Gaza Strip and escalating violence in the occupied West Bank.

A fragile ceasefire came into force in Gaza on October 10 as part of US President Donald Trump's peace initiative, setting in motion a complex Palestinian political reform process and reigniting debate over governance.

Fatah, the historic Palestinian movement, appears more incapable than ever of shaping events, according to observers.

Tirawi had told AFP in December 2023 that "a kind of rebellion" was brewing within the movement, as well as across other Palestinian factions.