Palestine demands medical supplies to fight novel coronavirus

A top Palestinian official says the Palestinian Authority has submitted a request to several countries for medical supplies, including diagnostic test kits, as it is struggling to cope with the rising cases of COVID-19 with its limited resources and weak healthcare system.

“There is a serious shortage of medical supplies, including test kits and sets, to combat the virus in Palestinian territories,” Hussein al-Sheikh, head of the General Authority of Civil Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, said in a brief press statement on Thursday.

“Intensive efforts are made by contacting several countries to bring the needed test kits” to Palestine, he added.

Palestinian foreign ministry calls on Israel to release prisoners amid coronavirus outbreak

The Arab League has already called for the release of the prisoners from Israeli jails.

Moreover, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has reached out to his counterparts in a number of regional countries to garner financial and moral support for Palestine’s efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates announced in a statement that the 65-year-old diplomat held telephone conversations with Saudi and Kuwaiti foreign ministers Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Ahmad Nasser al-Mohammad Al Sabah as well as the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Yousef al-Othaimeen over the issue.

Palestinians in West Bank must stay at home: Palestine PM

The Palestinian government issued an order confining Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to their homes for two weeks as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus.

Separately, Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat said that while Palestine is battling coronavirus with very limited resources, Israeli authorities continue to raze Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank.

“As Palestine is battling coronavirus with very scarce resources, Israeli occupation forces entered Ein ad-Duyuk at-Tahta village in Ariha (Jericho) governorate today, and demolished three homes. Is this what some refer as ‘cooperation’ to fight the virus? It is rather another Israeli crime against peace,” Erekat said in a statement issued on Thursday.

First cases of COVID-19 confirmed in besieged Gaza

The first two cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed in the densely-populated Gaza Strip, which is under the Israeli siege.

“Dozens of Palestinian workers are also dumped at checkpoints (across the West Bank) in a show of the immoral corruption of the Occupation. Complete halt to the Israeli occupation is a basic requirement for a just and lasting peace,” the statement pointed out.

Ibrahim Melhem, the spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, told a news briefing in the central West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday that 15 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Palestinian territories, raising the total number to 86.

Israeli Shin Bet's involvement in coronavirus crisis raises questions

Israel has given its spy agency Shin Bet the green light to use "counter-terrorism" operations against those infected with a new coronavirus, treating the pandemic as a security menace.

The senior Palestinian official said the 15 new cases were from the village of Beddo, which lies northwest of Jerusalem al-Quds.

They were infected “after interacting with the Palestinian woman who was declared dead (from coronavirus) on Wednesday,” said Melhem, adding more precautionary measures will be taken in the village.

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