Israel doctors to gradually reduce sedation for Peres

Doctors for Israel's former president, Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres, plan to gradually reduce his sedation and respiratory support with the 93-year-old showing improvement but still critical Sunday.

Peres has seen "very slow, moderate improvement" although he was still in critical but stable condition after suffering a major stroke, his personal physician and son-in-law Rafi Walden told AFP.

Doctors now plan "to gradually reduce the respiratory support as well as the level of anaesthesia" he has been receiving, Peres's office said in a statement.

Walden called it a "regular method of treatment" for patients in his condition.

"We gradually reduce support and expect the patient to respond," he said.

Peres suffered a major stroke with internal bleeding on Tuesday and is in hospital near Tel Aviv.

He has been under sedation and breathing with the help of a respirator, though he has responded to prompts when his sedation has been reduced temporarily.

Peres has held nearly every major office in Israel, serving twice as prime minister. He was president, a mostly ceremonial role, from 2007 to 2014.

He won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for his role in negotiating the Oslo Accords, which envisioned an independent Palestinian state.

The former hawk turned dove is widely respected both in Israel and abroad, regularly meeting world leaders and celebrities.

Sourc: AFP