Israel has permitted Palestinian officials to send the first shipment of 1,000 coronavirus vaccines to the blockaded Gaza Strip, after the Palestinian Authority accused it of holding up vital shipments intended for frontline medical workers.
“This morning, an amount of 1,000 Sputnik vaccines donated by Russia, is being transferred from the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip,” an Israeli security official said. The shipment is expected to arrive later on Wednesday.
Gaza has a population of about 2 million. Health officials there have reported more than 53,000 cases of the coronavirus and 538 deaths.
A previously planned transfer of 2,000 vaccine doses to the coastal enclave, which is geographically disconnected from the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority is headquartered, was blocked on Monday at an Israeli checkpoint.
“These doses were intended for medical staff working in intensive care rooms designated for Covid-19 patients, and for staff working in emergency departments,” the authority’s health minister, Mai al-Kaila, said in a statement.
An Israeli security source said the incident occurred as the national security council, a body that belongs to the Israeli prime minister’s office, had not yet decided whether to allow vaccines into Gaza.
The Guardian contacted the Israeli prime minister’s office for comment but did not receive a response. It is unclear why only 1,000 vaccines were allowed in if the Palestinian Authority had requested double that amount be sent, or if the 1,000 vaccines each contained two doses.
Israel captured the West Bank from Jordanian troops in a 1967 war and its forces have remained there since. It took the Gaza Strip in the same conflict, although its military pulled out in 2005.
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