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Gaza reports 1st coronavirus death

The Hamas terror group faces its next challenge in the coronavirus crisis during the Eid al-Fitr holiday on Sunday, which marks the end of Ramadan.

By World Israel News Staff

The Gaza Strip reported its first death from the coronavirus on Saturday, according to local health officials.

The coastal enclave is ruled by the Hamas terror group, which has grossly mismanaged internal affairs in the Strip by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on its terror campaign, instead of medical infrastructure, health care and other basic needs.

The Palestinian health ministry identified the corona victim as a 77-year-old woman who had preexisting health conditions, The Associated Press reported. She died at a field hospital near the Rafah crossing after arriving from Egypt.

According to Hamas officials, there were 35 new coronavirus cases in Gaza this week, bringing the Strip’s total number of cases to 55 since the global pandemic began.

Gaza’s health care system suffers from lack of funding, despite regular injections of cash and aid from Iran, Qatar, and European donor nations.

On Friday, Hamas opened mosques in the Gaza Strip after a two-month closure, AP reported.

The terror group faces its next challenge with regard to containing the coronavirus during the Eid al-Fitr holiday on Sunday, which marks the end of the month-long Ramadan festival.

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In addition to Hamas, the Gaza Strip is home to a number of other Islamic terror groups, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, ISIS offshoots, and branches of the Fatah faction, which is the political party that Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas oversees.

Hamas and the PA maintain a bloody internal feud and Abbas cannot enter the Gaza Strip due to threats on his life there.