Israel sends Palestinian Authority vaccines for ‘humanitarian cases’

The small number of vaccines were transferred to the PA earlier this week for and have yet to be used.

By LAHAV HARKOV, KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the arrival of the first batch of Pfizer coronavirus vaccines in Israel (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the arrival of the first batch of Pfizer coronavirus vaccines in Israel
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Israel sent dozens of vaccines to the Palestinian Authority, a PA official confirmed on Wednesday.
The small number of vaccines were transferred to the PA earlier this week and have yet to be used.
A Palestinian official said: “The vaccines are intended for humanitarian cases, and not for senior Palestinian officials.”
KAN, which first reported on the matter, speculated that the doses would go to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is 85 years old.
PLO Secretary-General and top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat died of COVID-19 in November, at age 65.
The Prime Minister’s Office and Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories would not confirm or deny the report.
The PA inquired about obtaining coronavirus vaccines from Israel for the first time earlier this week.
“We understand that the political echelon in Israel has to decide about this matter,” a Palestinian official told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. “Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is helping us secure vaccines from a number of companies.”
 Two weeks ago, PA Health Ministry officials said the Palestinians have not asked Israel to supply them with, nor to purchase on their behalf, vaccines against the novel coronavirus.
The PA ordered vaccines from AstraZeneca and Russia’s Sputnik-V, and is expected to receive doses from the World Health Organization’s COVAX vaccine aid program.
The first doses of vaccines are expected to arrive in the West Bank at the beginning of February, the PA Health Ministry said.
The reports of Israel sending vaccines to the PA come after weeks of activists accusing Israel of blocking Palestinians from getting vaccinated, claiming that Israel is required to do so under international law, and some media outlets amplifying that false narrative.
Under article 17 of the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority is responsible for healthcare, including vaccines, for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel has been vaccinating Palestinians in east Jerusalem.