Former Israeli president, Shimon Peres dies aged 93

Shimon Peres, the last of Israel's founding fathers.

Mr Peres endured a stroke two weeks ago. His condition had improved before a sudden weakening on Tuesday. 

His son Chemi drove tributes to "one of the founding fathers of the State of Israel" who "worked resolutely" for it. 

Mr Peres was one of the remainder of an era of Israeli legislators present at the new country's introduction to the world in 1948. 

He won the Nobel Peace prize in 1994 for his part arranging peace concurs with the Palestinians a year earlier. 

He once said the Palestinians were Israel's "closest neighbours" and might become its "closest friends".

Mr Peres passed on in a hospital near Tel Aviv at an early stage on Wednesday, with his family at his bedside. 

He had been in the emergency unit of the Sheba Medical Center after suffering a major stroke on 13 September. 

He "left us without suffering", said Rafi Walden, his son-in-law.

Mr Peres' son, Chemi, said of his dad: "He served our people before we even had a country of our own.

"He worked enthusiastically for Israel from the principal day of the state to the most recent day of his life. 

"My father used to say - and I'm quoting - you are only as great as the cause you serve."

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu communicated his "deep personal sorrow over the passing of the nation's beloved former president".

While US President Barack Obama called Mr Peres his "dear companion" in an announcement, and said: "He was guided by a vision of the human dignity and progress that he knew people of goodwill could advance together."

Mr Peres shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for his part in negotiating a peace deal with the Palestinians (Getty)

England's Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis called Mr Peres "a true giant among men" and "the greatest living example of an unshakable belief in the pursuit of peace against all odds".

He included: "Tragically, thus far, we have not succeeded. But from Shimon Peres we learned that we must never let go of that audacious commitment to peace, even when all around us are ready to do so."

Mr Peres shares his Nobel Peace Prize with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was later killed, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. 

Toward the begin of his long political profession, he was put in charge of personnel and arms purchases for the Haganah, the predecessor of the Israel Defense Forces. 

He secured an arrangement with France to supply the new Israeli country with Mirage jet fighters. He likewise set up Israel's secret nuclear facility. 

He was the defence minister in 1976, when Palestinian hijackers occupied and diverted a plane from Israel to Entebbe in Uganda. He supervised the effective rescue of more than 100 prisoners. 

Brief Biography

• Born in 1923 in Wisniew, Poland, now Vishnyeva, Belarus
• First elected to the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in 1959
• Served in 12 governments, including once as president and twice as prime minister
• Seen as a hawk in his early years, when he negotiated arms deals for the fledgling nation
• A member of the government that approved the building of Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian territory
• But played a key part in reaching the Oslo peace accords, the first deal between Israel and the Palestinians, which said they would "strive to live in peaceful coexistence"

Once a promoter of Jewish settlements in the involved West Bank, Mr Peres later turned into a main political bird. He frequently talked about the requirement for compromise over regional requests in Palestinian territories.

He kept up a dynamic open timetable into old age, generally through his non-governmental Peres Place for Peace, which advances nearer ties amongst Israel and the Palestinians. 

In 2013 he said: "There is no contrasting option to peace. There is no sense to go to war." 

He resigned from his role as president in 2014. 

Mr Peres' funeral is planned for Friday at Mount Herzl, Israel's national graveyard in Jerusalem. 

His coffin will be placed at the Knesset (parliament) on Thursday for the general public to pay their last regards, media reports say.