Saeb Erekat in ‘critical’ condition, says Hadassah hospital

Occupied Jerusalem (QNN)- Senior negotiator Saeb Erekat is in a critical condition with Covid-19 and has been placed on a ventilator, Hadassah hospital said.

Erekat, 65, was moved from his home in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho to Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital on Sunday.

“Mr. Erekat had a quiet night but this morning his condition deteriorated, and it is now defined as critical,” a statement from the Israeli hospital’s spokeswoman, Hadar Elboim, said on Monday.

“Due to respiratory distress, he was put on a ventilator and placed in a medically induced coma.”

The statement said Erekat was also being treated for a bacterial infection.

Erekat “arrived in serious condition” and was receiving oxygen, the hospital said on Sunday, adding that his condition was “serious” but “stable”.

Hadassah said it was “in contact with international medical authorities regarding the treatment policy of this complex patient”.

Erekat had undergone a lung transplant three years ago and had a “weakened immune system and bacterial infection, in addition to coronavirus”, said the hospital.

Erekat is the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), he serves as an adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas and has been the chief negotiator in talks with the occupation state for two-and-a-half decades.

On 9 October, he announced that he had tested positive for Covid-19.

He tweeted that he was experiencing “difficult symptoms resulting from my lack of immunity as a result of lung transplantation”. But he added that “things are under control, thank God”.

On Sunday, the PLO said he had been transferred to Hadassah Medical Center “due to the chronic health problems he faces in the respiratory system”.