Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has died aged 85 after spending eight years in a coma following a stroke.
Mr Sharon was a giant of the Israeli military and political scene, but courted controversy throughout his long career.
The head of the Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv said he had died on Saturday afternoon of heart failure.
Mr Sharon's health had declined for the past week and a half, he said.
He fought in Israel's war of independence in
1948, and from that point until he slipped into a coma in 2006 it seemed
there was hardly a moment of national drama in which he did not play a
role, BBC correspondent says.
The 85-year-old, who became PM in 2001, was suffering from a
malfunction of several organs including the kidneys, doctors said on
Thursday.
Mr Sharon's health was showing signs of "a slow and gradual deterioration" and his life was in danger, they added.
To many Israelis, Mr Sharon was a heroic warrior, having led decisive campaigns in the 1967 and 1973 wars.
In a tribute, current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "his memory will live forever in the nation's heart", his spokesman said on Twitter.
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