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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was released from the hospital Monday after an eight-day stay and treatment for what officials said was a lung infection.

“Thank God I am leaving the hospital in good health, and I will return to work tomorrow,” the 82-year-old leader told reporters in the lobby of the hospital in the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

He hinted that the heavy workload and stress of the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital had affected his health.

“If I entered the hospital for Jerusalem, I want to leave while Jerusalem is our capital,” he told reporters in a brief statement.

Abbas was hospitalized on May 20 with a fever, just days after undergoing ear surgery. Palestinian officials said he had pneumonia and was on a respirator, receiving antibiotics intravenously.

Abbas’ health condition prevented him from attending the extraordinary Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Turkey on Feb. 18, which was held to discuss the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.

In February, Abbas was hospitalized in the United States for medical checks during a trip to address the U.N. Security Council, after which a cardiologist moved into the presidential compound in Ramallah to monitor the longtime leader.

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.

In 2016, Abbas established the Palestinian Constitutional Court, whose head could take charge until an election is held.

Abbas is also chairman of the executive committee of the PLO, a position to which he was re-elected unopposed on May 4.

Source:.dailysabah.com