FILE PHOTO - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waves in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank May 1, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/File Photo

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, 82, was discharged from hospital after successful ear surgery in the West Bank on Tuesday, Palestine Television said.

Abbas’ surgery coincided with an escalation in Israeli-Palestinian tensions after Israeli troops shot dead dozens of Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border on Monday as the new U.S. Embassy opened in Jerusalem.

Abbas waved to reporters and walked unaided to his car but did not speak. Palestine TV said the procedure was carried out on the Palestinian leader’s middle ear.

In February, Abbas was hospitalized in the United States for medical checks during a trip to address the U.N. Security Council in New York.

In October 2016, he was taken to hospital in the West Bank without prior public announcement for heart function tests which, a doctor said, showed normal results.

Abbas became Palestinian president after the death in 2004 of Yasser Arafat. He pursued U.S.-led peace talks with Israel but the negotiations broke down in 2014.

He is also chairman of the Executive Committee of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization, a position to which he was re-elected unopposed on May 4.