PA: Deploy UN troops at border crossings with Israel to combat coronavirus
Shtayyeh called on Palestinian workers in Israel to stay overnight at their work places and not to move on a daily basis through the border crossings.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHIsraeli border policemen wearing protective gear as a precaution against the coronavirus, guard at an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank on the outskirts of Jerusalem(photo credit: REUTERS/RONEN ZEVULUN)
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday called on Israel to close all its border crossings with the West Bank to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.The appeal came as the PA Health Minister announced the detection of another 64 coronavirus cases in the West Bank in the past 24 hours, raising the number of Palestinians diagnosed with the disease to 4,786.The death toll of the coronavirus has risen to 21 after a Palestinian man in his 60’s, who had been diagnosed with the disease, died on Monday morning.“We will send a request to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) to monitor the situation at the 1967 borders,” Shtayyeh said during the weekly meeting of the PA cabinet in Ramallah.Shtayyeh called on Palestinian workers in Israel to stay overnight at their work places and not to move on a daily basis through the border crossings.He said that the PA government was facing difficulty in curbing the spread of the virus because the West Bank is divided into three areas – A, B, and C – and because it was not allowed to operate inside Jerusalem.The PA security forces have been banned from setting up checkpoints at the border crossings and in Area C, which is under exclusive Israeli control, Shtayyeh said.He accused some Palestinian of displaying reckless disregard towards the rules of the Health Ministry to stem the spread of the coronavirus.“Some [Palestinians] even deny that the disease exists and are threatening the public in a dubious way,” Shtayyeh lamented.He revealed that 82% of the new coronavirus cases were the result of gatherings at weddings and mourning events, while 18% came from Palestinians working in Israel and others traveling between the West Bank and Israel.“Is it conceivable that in one of the towns there were more than 170 infected cases because of six weddings that took place there last Saturday?” Shtayyeh asked. “We will not allow this, and will not allow anyone to break the law. The police will impose all penalties against offenders.”
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