Palestinian negotiator dies

Saeb Erekat was diagnosed with COVID-19 and was at higher risk due to a lung transplant in 2017. The 65-year-old Palestinian spokesman and diplomat died on Tuesday at a hospital in Jerusalem.

Who was Erekat? Educated in the United States, Erekat was at the table for nearly every round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians dating back to 1991. He tirelessly argued for a negotiated two-state solution to the decades-old conflict but also consistently defended the Palestinian leadership and blamed Israel for the failure to reach an agreement.

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in World Tour about the state of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank.