Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat awaiting lung-transplant in Virginia as health deteriorates

Former Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Sunday he is awaiting a lung transplant in the United States, after several years of battling a lung disease called pulmonary fibrosis.

Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and a prominent Palestinian official for decades, issued a video message on his health via social media.

He is being treated in Virginia in the Washington area.

"After reading a few baseless rumours, I have completed my medical tests," the 62-year-old said.

"Now I am on the priority waiting list to get a lung transplant any day depending on finding a matching donor."

On Thursday, Erekat spoke out about his pulmonary fibrosis in a televised interview for the first time, admitting to being sick.

"My lungs have not been working," Erekat said while connected to an oxygen-support system.

"Five months ago, I began to deteriorate as a result of my illness. I am in constant need of oxygen and walking has become excruciating for me."

In August, an Israeli campaign emerged that called fo Israel to now allow Erekat to have a lung transplant in there.

Shurat Hadin, also known as the Israel Law Centre described Erekat's application for a lung transplant in Israel as "outrageous", demanding that the Israeli health ministry blocks any request from him to receive an Israeli lung.

Erekat has been part of every team to negotiate with Israel since 1991, with the notable exception of those who secretly compiled the 1993 Oslo Accords.

Erekat, who now lives in Jericho in the occupied West Bank, was close to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and has been a stalwart presence in the inner circle of Arafat's successor, President Mahmoud Abbas.