Top Palestinian Official Saeb Erekat Dies of COVID-19
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Saeb Erekat, a veteran peace negotiator and prominent international spokesman for the Palestinian Authority (PA) for more than three decades, died Tuesday, weeks after being infected by the coronavirus.
Erekat, 65, was involved in nearly every round of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians going back to the Madrid conference in 1991 when he famously showed up draped in a black-and-white checkered keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian nationalism.
His Fatah party announced his death in a statement, AP reported.
A relative and a Palestinian official confirmed he passed away, speaking on condition of anonymity out of privacy concerns.
Erekat is survived by his wife, two sons, twin daughters, and eight grandchildren.
