JERUSALEM — The head of the hospital treating Israel's iconic and controversial former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says only "a miracle" could prevent his condition from deteriorating further.

Dr. Zeev Rotstein, director of the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, says Sharon remained in a life-threatening condition on Monday.

Rotstein says that "unless there is a turn on the level of a miracle, his condition will get worse and worse from day to day."

Rotstein says that though doctors managed to stabilize some of Sharon's bodily functions, several vital organs, including his kidneys, are still in a decline.

He said Sharon's two sons remained at his bedside.

One of Israel's most famous generals, Sharon left his mark on the region through military invasion, Jewish settlement building on captured land and a shock, unilateral decision to pull Israeli troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip in 2005

The 85-year-old Sharon has been in a coma for eight years after a devastating stroke incapacitated him at the peak of his political power.

The hospital announced last week his health had dramatically worsened.