Ziad Abu Amr

Ziad Abu Amr, born in Gaza in 1950, has been deputy prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA) since June 2013. In May 2018, he was elected to the PLO’s Executive Committee (EC). In August 2022, President Mahmoud Abbas appointed him president of the board of directors of Istiqlal University (the PA’s military academy) in Jericho — replacing Tawfiq Tirawi. He has also been an independent member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) since 1996.

Abu Amr has managed to maintain good relations with both Fatah and Hamas: he was briefly Minister of culture in 2003 under then prime minister Mahmoud Abbas. In 2006, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), reportedly with the support of Hamas. In 2007, he served as PA foreign minister in the Hamas-led government under Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

Previously, Abu Amr held several positions within civil society, including deputy secretary general of Miftah, a Palestinian civil rights organisation. He was a professor of political science at Birzeit University from 1985 to 1996. He has a PhD from Georgetown University and is an American citizen.