PEOPLE

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Son état était considéré comme "désespéré" jeudi par l'hôpital où il était soigné. La santé d'Ariel Sharon, 85 ans, qui n'a pas repris conscience depuis une attaque cérébrale le 4 janvier 2006, se détériore depuis le 1er janvier dernier. La radio militaire avait indiqué jeudi qu'"il ne lui restait plus que quelques jours, sinon quelques heures, à vivre".

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          "Arik" (diminutif d'Ariel) Sharon restera dans l'Histoire comme l'artisan en 1982 de l'invasion du Liban alors qu'il était ministre de la Défense, mais aussi comme le chef de gouvernement israélien qui aura évacué les troupes et les colons de la bande de Gaza en 2005.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Une commission d'enquête officielle avait conclu à sa responsabilité pour n'avoir ni prévu ni empêché les massacres des camps de réfugiés palestiniens de Sabra et Chatila à Beyrouth en septembre 1982, perpétrés par une milice chrétienne alliée d'Israël.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Il avait été contraint à la démission, ce qui ne l'avait pas empêché de devenir Premier ministre en 2001, poste auquel il avait été réélu en 2003.