COVID-19: Veteran Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat critical

Dubai: Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat is critically ill with coronavirus at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Karem Medical Centre.

The 65-year-old top Palestinian leader was placed on a ventilator earlier today as he was in critical condition. He tested positive for the novel coronavirus earlier this month.

Erekat was rushed from West Bank home to hospital in Tel Aviv on Sunday, then transferred to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Karem Medical Centre.

He had a history of respiratory illness and underwent a lung transplant in 2017. Erekat is also fighting a bacterial infection, according to officials at the hospital said.

His daughter tweeted late Sunday that her father was stable in a coronary care unit, where he was receiving heavy flows of oxygen. His condition then worsened overnight, the hospital said.

Erekat played a central role in Palestinian politics and diplomacy for decades. Since the early 1990s, he is a high-ranking member or led negotiating teams in Madrid, Oslo, Washington and Camp David.