A "discriminatory" measure.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, accused Israel on Tuesday (February 16) of knowingly blocking thousands of Covid-19 vaccines intended for the Palestinian enclave of two million people. 

This Israeli position is "a real crime and a violation of all international laws and humanitarian standards," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP, denouncing a "discriminatory" measure by Israel. 

He further called for an end to the blockade that Israel has imposed for more than a decade on Gaza in an attempt, according to the Jewish state, to contain the armed movement Hamas.  

Cogat, the Israeli body in charge of civilian operations in the Palestinian Territories, said for its part that the Palestinian request for entry of vaccines is "under consideration and awaits a political decision". 

The Palestinian government has called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to hold Israel "fully responsible for the dangers linked to the ban on entry of vaccines into Gaza," its spokesman Ibrahim Melhem said at the meeting. a press conference in Ramallah. 

In early February, the Palestinian Authority launched vaccination for its medical staff after receiving 2,000 doses from the Hebrew state. 

She was to receive at least 50,000 other vaccines in mid-February thanks to the Covax aid to the poorest countries, set up by the WHO and the Alliance for vaccines. 

It has also received 10,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and indicated its intention to share some of it with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a territory geographically separated from the West Bank by Israel.   

In recent days, Israeli sources who requested anonymity suggested to AFP that the transfer of vaccines to Gaza was a political decision that could be linked to talks involving Israel and Hamas. 

In the West Bank, the Ministry of Health has officially recorded more than 115,000 cases, including more than 1,400 deaths.

In the Gaza Strip, more than 53,700 infections have been recorded since the start of the pandemic, including 538 deaths. 

With AFP 

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR