Saeb Erekat, one of the most prominent veterans of the Palestinian cause, has died of coronavirus complications at the age of 65, in a death mourned far beyond the occupied territory.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called the passing of "a brother and friend ... a huge loss for Palestine and our people".

Egypt praised Erekat, the Palestine Liberation Organisation's secretary general, as "a steadfast fighter ... who spent his life diligently pursuing the rights of the Palestinian people".

Maltese Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo also expressed his condolences, describing Erekat as a passionate advocate for the Palestinian cause. 

A lung transplant recipient who suffered from pulmonary fibrosis, "Saeb Erekat died at Hadassah Hospital" in Jerusalem on Tuesday, where he had been admitted on October 18, president Abbas's office said.

Hadassah hospital said Erekat "passed away in the intensive care unit," where he had been in critical condition for several weeks. 

Born in Jerusalem in 1955, Erekat lived in the biblical town of Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

An academic and author whose perfect command of English was often spiced with humour, Erekat was part of every team to negotiate with Israel since 1991, with the notable exception of the delegation that secretly hammered out the Oslo accords of 1993.

Growing up in the shadow of Israel's crushing victory over its Arab neighbours in the Six-Day War of 1967, he dedicated much of his life to seeking a resolution to the conflict.

But he watched despairingly as the two-state solution that he long worked for was increasingly undermined by Israeli settlement expansion, sporadic violence, stalled peace efforts and Palestinian divisions.

When Israel and the United Arab Emirates recently agreed to normalise ties, he charged this would kill the two-state solution, strengthen "extremists" and undermine the "possibility of peace".

Reaching peace 'his destiny'

Former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who represented the Jewish state in peace talks with the Palestinians and had a personal relationship with Erekat, said the Palestinian negotiator "dedicated his life to his people".

"Reaching Peace is my destiny, (Erekat) used to say," Livni wrote on Twitter. 

Arab-Israeli lawmaker Ayman Odeh, who heads the mainly Arab Joint List coalition, said: "Saeb won't get to see his people freed from the occupation.

"But generations of Palestinians will remember him as one of the giants who dedicated his life for their independence."

Israeli anti-occupation civil society organisation Peace Now said it "will remember (Erekat's) dedication to peace and the two-state solution". 

"As long as people like Erekat reach out their hand to peace, it's our duty to negotiate," it said in a statement. 

Erekat took part in the failed Camp David summit in July 2000, and the September 2010 talks in Washington, which stopped in a row over Israel's settlement building.

He was also chief negotiator in 2014 when then US president Barack Obama tried to restart peace efforts.

A former journalist with the independent daily Al-Quds in east Jerusalem, Erekat held a BA and an MA in political science from the University of San Francisco.

He also held a doctorate in peace studies from the University of Bradford in England, and taught at An-Najah University in the West Bank town of Nablus from 1979 to 1991.               

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