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Israel transferring 1 million COVID vaccines to Palestinians

Some 100,000 Palestinians were vaccinated by the Israeli government, despite not being registered to Israeli HMOs.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Israel will transfer over 1 million doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to the Palestinian Authority in the coming days, the Israeli government announced Friday.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office and Health Ministry, Israel will give the Palestinians surplus vaccines that are set to expire soon.

But the exchange is a loan, not a gift. In return for receiving the vaccines now, the PA will transfer Israel 1 million of the 1.4 million vaccines it is set to receive from Pfizer in September or October 2021.

“The plan was approved based on the fact that Israel’s current vaccine stockpile is sufficient for its current needs,” the statement said.

Israel has faced intense international pressure to provide the Palestinians with vaccines, despite a clause within the 1994 Oslo Accords which specifically states that the PA bears sole responsibility as a healthcare provider for Palestinians.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health reports that some 436,000 residents of the Gaza Strip and PA-controlled areas in Judea and Samaria are vaccinated, with about 260,000 having received both doses of the vaccine.

Some 100,000 Palestinians were vaccinated by the Israeli government, despite not being registered to Israeli HMOs.

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Physicians for Human Rights Israel slammed the Israeli government for the vaccine transfer, saying it was “too little and far too late.”

Ghada Majadli, a spokesperson for the NGO, charged that “instead of taking responsibility and providing vaccines without delay to the entire [Palestinian] population…Israel is making deals with the lives and health of millions of people.

Past tweets from Majadli show that she does not believe the State of Israel has a right to exist. She refers to Israeli cities such as Haifa and Lod as being located in “historic Palestine.”