Saeb Erekat
Saeb ErekatReuters

A doctor treating Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Saeb Erekat performed a bronchostomy on Wednesday to examine the condition of his respiratory system, his daughter said, according to The Associated Press.

Salam Erekat said on Twitter that her father remained intubated and connected to an ECMO machine, which does the work of the lungs by transferring oxygen into blood.

She said it would take several days to get the results. “Hopefully things will take a better way. Pray for my father,” said Salam Erekat, who herself is a physician.

Erekat was rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem on Sunday following a deterioration in his condition after he contracted COVID-19.

The PLO Secretary-General is in critical but stable condition, according to the hospital. The hospital’s medical team said it is consulting with experts around the world to deal with the case.

Erekat is in a high-risk group after having previously contracted pulmonary fibrosis and having undergone a lung transplant in the United States in 2017.

A frequent critic of Israel, Erekat has in the past accused Israel of “war crimes”, “massacres”, and “genocide”.

In 2013, Erekat accused Israel of applying a policy of apartheid in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.

Despite his accusations of Israeli “genocide”, this is not the first time the senior PA official has sought treatment at an Israeli hospital.

In 2017, Erekat was spotted at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.