Shaken by the prospect of losing their veteran leader, senior Palestinian officials have started debating fresh strategies in their long-running conflict with Israel in the hope of galvanising international support for their cause.

Mahmoud Abbas’s announcement last week that he would not seek re-election as president of the Palestinian Authority is seen by many Palestinians as the clearest sign yet that peace talks with Israel have hit an insurmountable obstacle, and that the immediate focus of the next Palestinian leadership should be on other strategies for ending the Israeli occupation.