Veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat dies at 65
Erekat, who contracted the coronavirus last month, died in a Jerusalem hospital on Tuesday.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who acted as chief architect for decades of negotiations with the Israelis, died Tuesday following complications from the novel coronavirus.
In October, his office announced that Erekat had been infected with COVID-19 and taken to a Jerusalem hospital for treatment. The 65-year-old had already suffered significant health problems before contracting the virus, and in 2017 received a lung transplant in the United States.
On Tuesday, the Hadassah University Hospital said Erekat, who was placed on a ventilator after his condition worsened last month, died after multiple organ failure.
His death was confirmed by the Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Department, which said in a statement Tuesday, “With heart-wrenching sadness and pain, today we bid farewell to Dr. Saeb Erekat.”
