Israel, which has vaccinated Covid-19 against about 85% of the adult population, has been criticized for not sharing its vaccines with 4.5 million Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel’s new government has announced that it will hand over to the Palestinian Authority Pfizer vaccines that are about to expire and the Palestinian Authority will return the same number of vaccines when they are received from the company. Pfizer September or October.
Israel has implemented one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in the world, which has opened up the country’s economy. This week, the authorities lifted the requirement to wear masks in public places.
Advocacy organizations have argued that Israel, as the occupying power, should provide vaccines to the Palestinians. Israel denies this, citing the interim peace agreements reached with the Palestinians in the 1990s.
These agreements state that the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in the West Bank, is responsible for health care, but state that the two sides must work together to combat pandemics.
There is a Palestinian movement in Gaza Hamas, which Israel and the West regard as a terrorist organization.
The Palestinian Authority has announced that it has entered into agreements with private companies to purchase vaccines and is part of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) assistance program COVAX.
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