Khadija Arafat, sister of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, died early Saturday morning at a hospital in Cairo where she had been receiving treatment, at the age of 86, according to the Palestinian WAFA news agency.
President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly mourned her passing and acknowledged her role in her brother’s revolutionary and nationalistic aspirations realized through the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). He offered condolences to her relatives, family and loved ones.
Fatah mourned with deep sorrow the death of Khadija, calling her “the Revolutionary Adult”.
Also, the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo announced that Arafat died while receiving treatment in a Cairo hospital, but no further information was given regarding her death.
Khadija was the only remaining sister of Arafat. She headed charity organizations offering services to Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Gaza Strip.
Arafat died at the age of 75 in 2004 in a military hospital in Paris, after a long Israeli siege of his headquarters. Palestinians accuse Israelis of poisoning him, yet years after investigation no significant information was revealed.
The commission of inquiry, headed by Fatah member Tawfik Tirawi, summoned security men close to Arafat and questioned them. The commission also took samples from his body to confirm or deny the hypothesis of him being poisoned.
The commission didn’t issue any statement or outcomes, although Abbas said last year that he knew who killed Arafat but would wait for the results of the investigation. As he marked the 12th anniversary of the Arafat’s death, he said, “You ask me who killed him, I know — but my testimony alone is not enough. A commission of inquiry is digging into that, but you’ll find out at the earliest opportunity and be amazed when you know who did it.”
