Days of Palestine – Gaza

The Israeli occupation authorities continue to prevent the supply of 2000 doses of the Coronavirus vaccine to the Gaza Strip, according to a decision by the political leadership in Israel, which has not yet agreed to the Palestinian Authority's request to transfer the vaccine to Gaza.

The Minister of Health, Dr. May Al-Kailah said in a press release, that the Israeli occupation authorities prevented the entry of 2000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine into the Gaza Strip.

The prevention of the supply of the vaccine coincided with the deterioration of the health conditions in Gaza, and the continuing outbreak of the coronavirus within it, as the number of cases infected with the virus reached 53593 cases today, of which 537 died, 50,505 cases recovered, while 2551 cases are still active.

For his part, Dr. Rami Al-Abadala, the Director of the Safety and Infection Control Unit at the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, said that the Israeli action to prevent the vaccine is a new crime against the Palestinian people.

He stressed that preventing the entry of the vaccine into Gaza will have consequences and impacts on the epidemiological situation in the sector, as the target group is for the immunocompromised, especially patients with kidney failure and transplant patients, as their number reached about 1000_1500 people, explaining that the vaccine would have protected them from the risk of infection.

He explained that the Israeli occupation commits daily crimes against the Palestinian people in general, whether from the siege of the Palestinian lands in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Al-Abadla called on international organizations and the World Health Organization to put pressure on the Israeli occupation and force it to allow the entry of the vaccine into Gaza Strip.

On the epidemiological situation, Al-Abadleh said that Gaza Strip has not yet reached a state of stability in the epidemic curve, expecting the entry of a new wave of Coronavirus within a month.

In light of this, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights warned of the dangerous repercussions of preventing the Israeli occupation authorities from supplying the coronavirus vaccine to Gaza Strip.

It stressed that the primary responsibility for providing medical supplies to the residents of the Gaza Strip, including vaccinations, rests with Israel, in accordance with articles 55 and 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.

It also called on the international community and the World Health Organization to put pressure on Israel to force it to abide by its duties and to allow all medical needs to enter the Gaza Strip, especially the vaccine against the coronavirus.