Mahmoud Abbas referred to Erekat as a "martyr" (in Arabic)

 

At the official Palestinian Wafa news agency, in Arabic, Mahmoud Abbas referred to the late Saeb Erekat as a "martyr" - a shahid - implying that he was killed by Israel. 

The President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, today, Tuesday, mourned, in his name and in the name of the Palestinian leadership and government, to the masses of our people and our Arab and Islamic nation, and friends in the world, the great national leader and the martyr of Palestine, the secretary of the Executive Committee of the PLO, A member of the Fatah Central Committee, and the prominent academic, Saeb Erekat, who spent his life as a fighter and a hard negotiator defending Palestine, its cause, its people, and its independent national decision.

In English, though - no shahid:

 President Mahmoud Abbas today mourned Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), member of Fatah Central Committee, and a prominent academic who spent his life as a fighter and a hard negotiator defending Palestine, its cause, its people, and its independent national decision.

The rest of the article is virtually identical between English and Arabic.

I have not seen any accusations that Israel killed Erekat while he was treated for COVID-19 at Hadassah Hospital, but give it a day or two. 

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