One of the leaders of Fatah, Saib Arikat, told in an interview to Palestinian television on September 21 about his illness, which forced him to appear in a television studio in a wheelchair and with an artificial respiration apparatus.

Now he is waiting for an operation to transplant the lung.

"Five years ago, I started having problems with the lungs, and five months ago there was a severe deterioration in my health," Arikat explained to the audience. "It's hard for me to walk, I'm waiting for an operation to transplant the lung." I am a believer and I pin my hopes on God, I hope that the operation will be successful. But if God wants to be different, I'll be happy to meet Him. "

Arikat added that it was "a great honor for him to be a soldier of Palestine".

Arakat assured viewers that despite the illness, he continues his work as secretary general of the Fatah executive committee. However, due to illness recently he began to appear less often at meetings of the executive committee.

After Arikat's condition worsened, he was hospitalized in an Israeli hospital where he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. Then, after the checks, it was found that the patient needs a lung transplant. And the search for donor organs began.

As the "Cursor" reported in early August, in connection with the announcement that the Fateh secretary-general is waiting for his turn to have a lung transplant in Israel, the Center for Organ Transplantation hastened to come out with a refutation.

"The organ transplant center informs that Saib Arikat is not on the Center's list waiting for the operation," the refutation says. The refutation states that the publication in the media was not coordinated with the Center.

Nevertheless, very many people after the report on lung transplantation Saib Arikatu in Israel decided to refuse donations of their organs. So on Facebook, one of the users posted a photo of the "Adi card" and a pair of scissors next to her.