Pressured by UN, Israel gives 5,000 vaccine doses to Palestinians
-Under pressure from the UN, Israel will supply 5,000 of its doses of covid-19 vaccines to Palestinian medical personnel in the occupied West Bank, its defense ministry said on Sunday.
“I confirm that we are going to supply 5,000 vaccines to the Palestinian Authority’s medical teams,” a
a spokeswoman for the Israeli Defense Ministry told AFP, stating that these doses would be taken from
Israeli reserves.
Since launching its vaccination campaign in late December, Israel has vaccinated more than three
million people, a third of its population, according to the latest data from authorities.
In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory under the control of Hamas Islamists, and in the occupied
West Bank, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, vaccination has not yet started.
The new UN coordinator for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, asked Israel last week to facilitate the
vaccination of Palestinians against COVID-19, in accordance with “Israel’s obligations under
international law.”
Israel, which did not specify the reasons why it was going to provide 5,000 vaccines to the Palestinian
Authority, and to vaccinate Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the eastern part of the holy city occupied
and annexed to Israel since 1967.
The Palestinian Authority signed four contracts for the purchase of vaccines, which would cover 70%
of the inhabitants of Gaza and the West Bank. The first doses of the Russian Sputnik V should arrive
in the next few days.
Since the start of the pandemic, Israel has registered some 641,000 cases of covid-19, of which 4,700
died. Palestinian authorities reported 157,000 infections, of which 1,800 deaths, in the West Bank and
Gaza.
“I confirm that we are going to supply 5,000 vaccines to the Palestinian Authority’s medical teams,” a
a spokeswoman for the Israeli Defense Ministry told AFP, stating that these doses would be taken from
Israeli reserves.
Since launching its vaccination campaign in late December, Israel has vaccinated more than three
million people, a third of its population, according to the latest data from authorities.
In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory under the control of Hamas Islamists, and in the occupied
West Bank, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, vaccination has not yet started.
The new UN coordinator for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, asked Israel last week to facilitate the
vaccination of Palestinians against COVID-19, in accordance with “Israel’s obligations under
international law.”
Israel, which did not specify the reasons why it was going to provide 5,000 vaccines to the Palestinian
Authority, and to vaccinate Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the eastern part of the holy city occupied
and annexed to Israel since 1967.
The Palestinian Authority signed four contracts for the purchase of vaccines, which would cover 70%
of the inhabitants of Gaza and the West Bank. The first doses of the Russian Sputnik V should arrive
in the next few days.
Since the start of the pandemic, Israel has registered some 641,000 cases of covid-19, of which 4,700
died. Palestinian authorities reported 157,000 infections, of which 1,800 deaths, in the West Bank and
Gaza.
