JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel has agreed to transfer 5,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to the Palestinians to immunize front-line medical workers, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s office announced on Sunday.
It was the first time Israel has confirmed the transfer of vaccines to Palestinians, who are lagging far behind Israel’s aggressive vaccination campaign and have not yet received any vaccines.
The World Health Organization has expressed concern about the disparity between Israel and Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and international human rights groups and UN experts have said that Israel is the responsible for the well-being of the Palestinians in these areas. Israel says that according to the interim peace agreements reached in the 1990s, it is not responsible for the Palestinians and, in any case, has not received any requests for help.
Gantz’s office said early Sunday that the move had been approved. I had no further details on when this would happen. There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials.
Israel is one of the world leaders in vaccinating its population after entering into contracts with international drug giants Pfizer and Moderna. The Ministry of Health says nearly a third of Israel’s 9.3 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine, while about 1.7 million people have received both doses.
The campaign includes Israeli and Palestinian Arab citizens living in annexed East Jerusalem. But it does not include Palestinians living in the West Bank under the autonomous government of the Palestinian Authority and those living under the Hamas government in Gaza.
The Palestinian Authority has attempted to acquire doses through a WHO program known as COVAX. But the program, which aims to acquire vaccines for the countries needed, has been slow to begin.
The dispute reflects global inequality in access to vaccines, as rich countries inhale most doses, leaving the poorest countries even further behind in the fight against public health and the economic effects of the pandemic. It has also emerged as another turning point in the conflict of decades before the Middle East, even when the virus has wreaked havoc on both sides.