Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres dies

Former Israeli President Shimon Peres died in the early hours of September 28 following a stroke two weeks ago. Peres' family was seen arriving at the hospital in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night after a reported deterioration in his condition.

The 93-year-old statesman had been admitted to Intensive Care after suffering a stroke on September 13, which had reportedly resulted in a lot of cerebral bleeding. His condition remained stable for days, even though he was induced into a coma and put on a respirator. Peres reportedly made some progress, even regaining consciousness, before a sudden deterioration in his condition earlier in the day. Peres had already undergone extensive heart surgery earlier in the year, receiving a pacemaker after having what was described as a "mild cardiac event" at the time.

His son, Chemi, confirmed the death to reporters gathered at the hospital on Wednesday morning.

"Our father's legacy has always been to look to tomorrow. We were privileged to be part of his private family, but today we sense that the entire nation of Israel and the global community share this great loss. We share this pain together."

Peres' body will lie in state at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, on Thursday before a state funeral in Jerusalem on Friday. Pope Francis, US President Barack Obama, and Prince Charles are among the dozens of foreign dignitaries expected to attend.

Reaction from around the world

Tributes began pouring in from leaders across the international community after news of Peres' death spread. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed "deep personal sadness," calling Peres a "man of vision."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to Peres as an architect of the "unique friendship between Israel and Germany" after World War II.

"We bow down in gratitude that he succeeded and in our great respect for his life's work," he said in a statement.

US President Obama hailed the statesman as a friend who "never gave up on the possibility of peace."

"There are few people who we share this world with who change the course of human history, not just through their role in human events, but because they expand our moral imagination and force us to expect more of ourselves," Obama's statement said. "My friend Shimon was one of those people."

Former US President Bill Clinton and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said they "lost a true and treasured friend...a genius with a big heart who used his gifts to imagine a future of reconciliation, not conflict."

Israel's last surviving founding father

Born in Poland in 1923, Peres emigrated to what was then British-mandated Palestine when he was 11.

He served as prime minister for eight months after the assassination of Premier Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 and also for a brief term between 1984 and 1986, under a rotation agreement with Yitzhak Shamir. He later was elected Israel's ninth president, serving between 2007 and 2014.

Together with Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 "for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East" after signing the 1993 interim Oslo peace accords, which envisioned an independent Palestinian state.

ss,nm/jm (Reuters, AFP)