Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has died after being taken to a hospital a day earlier for treatment of a worsening coronavirus infection, according to the Asharq television channel.
Erekat, who was the Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), was hospitalized in Israel with COVID-19 and placed on a ventilator on Monday after his condition deteriorated, a spokeswoman for the facility said.
Erekat was rushed to Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center on Sunday from his home in the occupied West Bank. He contracted the coronavirus on October 8.
Erekat underwent lung-transplant surgery in the United States in 2017.
The 65-year-old has been a key figure in Palestinian politics for decades, often serving as a main interlocutor for foreign envoys and the international media.
He has consistently voiced support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Palestine politician Saeb Erakat dies of coronavirus in Israel’s Hadassah hospital
5 years ago
