Amnesty International on Wednesday called on Israel to deliver doses of coronavirus vaccines to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, saying it was incumbent on the Jewish state to do so under international law.
AFP: The Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank, which is home to some 2.8 million Palestinians, has not publicly called on Israel’s assistance in getting vaccinated.
It is very likely that Hamas Islamists, who control the Gaza strip, where about two million Palestinians live, will coordinate publicly with Israel in any vaccination effort.
But Amnesty, a UK-based rights group, said Israel must “stop evading its international obligations such as proprietary power and act immediately to ensure that Covid-19 vaccines are delivered fairly and effectively. fairly for Palestinians living under their occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. “
The PA has said that Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza will receive the vaccine through the United Nations – backed Covax program.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Monday that it planned to receive its first vaccine doses next month through Covax.
Israel began protecting its citizens, including Israeli settlers in the West Bank, on December 19, starting with medical staff and people over 60, and so far it has bring in more than a million people.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday he hoped that within a month 2.25 million Israelis – a quarter of the population of nine million – would have received the two pictures of the Pfizer-BioNTech injection needed for maximum impact get better.
On Tuesday, the Israeli health ministry had confirmed 451,000 cases of the virus since the outbreak began, with more than 3,400 deaths.
The Palestinian health ministry has confirmed that there are more than 100,000 cases in the West Bank, including 1,100 deaths.
In Gaza, there were 43,134 cases, with 404 deaths.