Vaccination of Palestinians: Amnesty denounces "institutionalized discrimination"

Two Palestinians walk near a mural depicting a caregiver with a mask on November 12, 2020, in Khan Younès, southern Gaza Strip.

Mohammed Abed AFP / Archivos

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2 min

While Israel is vaccinating at a breakneck rate, the 2.8 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the 2 million living in the Gaza Strip still do not have access to the vaccine.

The Palestinian Authority has not formally asked for help from Israel, but the Jewish state, as the occupying power, is obligated to help Palestinians obtain the vaccine under international law, says a report released this week. by Amnesty International.

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With our correspondent in Ramallah,

Alice Froussard

Israel must act immediately and fairly provide

vaccines to populations under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza,

 " reads a report published by Amnesty International.

Because it is a legal obligation of international law, according to the third and fourth Geneva Conventions.

For the Jewish state, the vaccination of 4,400 Palestinian detainees in Israel is not a priority either.

They will be vaccinated “ 

then

 ”, specified the Israeli attorney general, that is to say after the prison staff and once the Israeli population is vaccinated.

"No specific date" for vaccination

These disparities reveal " 

institutionalized discrimination

 ", according to Amnesty International.

The rest of the Palestinian population will likely have access to the vaccine between late February and early March.

"

There is no specific date

 ,"

said

the Minister of Health, Mai Al-Kaileh, this Saturday, January 9, adding that the Palestinian Authority is already in contact with four laboratories.

With its future vaccines, 70% of the population will be able to be immunized, and those transmitted by the WHO will make it possible to vaccinate 20% of the additional population.

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  • Israel

  • Palestinian territories

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