JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel has agreed to transfer 5,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to Palestinians to immunize first-line medical personnel, the office of Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced Sunday.
It was the first time that Israel has confirmed the transfer of vaccines to the Palestinians, who are well behind Israel’s aggressive vaccination campaign and have not yet received any vaccines.
The World Health Organization has expressed concern about inequality between Israel and Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and international human rights groups and UN experts have said Israel is responsible for the well-being of Palestinians in these areas. Israel says it is not responsible for the Palestinians under interim peace accords signed in the 1990s, and in any case has not received any requests for assistance.
Gantz’s office said early Sunday that the transfer had been approved. It had no further details as to when that would happen. There was no immediate response from Palestinian officials.
Israel is one of the world’s leaders in vaccinating its population after signing purchasing deals with international drug giants Pfizer and Moderna. The Ministry of Health says nearly a third of the 9.3 million people in Israel have received the first dose of the vaccine, while about 1.7 million people have received both doses.
The campaign includes Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians living in annexed East Jerusalem. But Palestinians living in the West Bank under the autonomous government of the Palestinian Authority and those living in Gaza under Hamas rule are not included.
The Palestinian Authority has attempted to obtain doses through a WHO program known as COVAX. But the program, which aims to procure vaccines for the countries that need it, is slowly getting off the ground.
The dispute reflects global inequality in access to vaccines as rich countries suck up the lion’s share of the doses, leaving poorer countries even further behind in fighting public health and the pandemic’s economic impact. It has also emerged as another flashpoint in the decades-old Middle East conflict, even though the virus has wreaked havoc on both sides.