Chinese ambassador to Israel found dead in his home
Initial reports say that Du was found dead in his bed by staff at his residence, and that no signs of violence were found on his body.
China's Ambassador to Israel, Du Wei, was found dead in his home in a Tel Aviv suburb on Sunday, an Israeli police spokesman said.
Police are outside the ambassador's residence in Herzliya -- to the north of Tel Aviv -- as part of standard procedure, a spokeswoman for Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told CNN.
His death comes less than a week after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Jerusalem, openly criticizing China's actions during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as calling on Israeli leaders to stop signing major infrastructure and communications deals with Chinese companies.
There has been no comment on the ambassador's death from the Chinese embassy in Israel or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing.
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General Yuval Rotem said that he spoke with China's deputy ambassador Dai Yuming to express his condolences, and told him that the ministry will help the Chinese Embassy with anything they may need along the way.
Ambassador Du assumed his current role in Israel in February 2020, according to the embassy's webpage, as the coronavirus pandemic was sweeping across the globe. He wrote in an article in the Jerusalem Post in mid-March that he immediately had to enter two weeks of mandatory self-quarantine on his arrival.
