Top Palestinian official Saeb Erekat evacuated to Israel for urgent treatment over Covid-19 complications
Secretary General of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat has been urgently transported to Israel due to breathing problems. He contracted Covid-19 two weeks ago.
Erekat, 65, was evacuated from his home in Jericho in the West Bank to the Hadassah Medical Center campus in West Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem neighborhood after his condition worsened on Sunday, the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department said. According to the group’s statement, the politician was transferred due to “chronic health problems he faces in the respiratory system.”
Amichai Stein, a reporter for the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, wrote on social media that Tel Aviv has approved the request by the Palestinian Authority to have Erekat transferred for urgent treatment.
Israel approved the request. https://t.co/8qGxNIvk26
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) October 18, 2020
The PLO confirmed that Erekat, a prominent Palestinian diplomat, tested positive for Covid-19 on October 8. Reports at the time said that he was quarantined at home and experiencing mild symptoms. The politician is believed to be vulnerable to Covid-19 complications due to his medical history, which includes surviving a heart attack in 2012 and receiving a lung transplant in 2017.
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