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February 13th, 2021 
Awake Goy Palestinians wait for travel permits to enter into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, in Rafah in the southern of Gaza Strip, on February 9, 2021. (Photo: Ashraf Amra/APA Images)
The Latest:
- 187,526 Palestinians tested positive for COVID-19; 175,258 recoveries; 2,110 deaths
- Of those who tested positive, 112,935 live in the West Bank; 53,265 live in Gaza, and 21,326 live in East Jerusalem
- 718,746 Israelis tested positive for COVID-19; 651,522 recoveries; 5,2304 deaths
On heels of political talks, Gaza’s border with Egypt opens ‘indefinitely’
This week kicked off with a major event on the political front, where 14 Palestinian political parties gathered in Cairo on Monday and Tuesday to agree on a mechanism for elections that will be held later this year. We noticed that officials from Gaza headed into Egypt via the Rafah border crossing, and after, the crossing stayed open.
Rafah has been closed for most of the pandemic, save for a few days, and so this change marks a dramatic shift for thousands of Palestinian travelers who have been marooned on either side of the border.
AFP reported the crossing would remain open “indefinitely.” An unnamed source at Rafah and an Egytpian security official told Reuters “Rafah will remain open ‘until further notice.’”
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip reopened beginning Feb. 9 to allow for the passage of travelers in both directions. (Photo: Ashraf Amra/APA Images)
The Israeli human rights group Gisha spoke with Palestinians making the trip out of Gaza. “A woman who made it to Egypt told us it took her 12 hours to cross 500 meters, and two days to reach Cairo – a trip which would ordinarily take about eight hours.”
Gisha was able to assist seven Palestinian students with exits out of Gaza so they could travel abroad at universities where they hold coveted scholarships. The organization has been asking Israeli legislatures to take action and allow the students to leave via the Erez crossing in the north of Gaza that connects to southern Israel. This week Gisha posted an update: “In its response (Hebrew) to requests from Gisha and from members of Knesset on the matter, the state said: ‘No room was found at this point in time to grant the request to add travel abroad for the purpose of academic studies to the list of exceptions currently included in the policy.’”
Palestinian workers in Israel clamor for vaccines
This week a trade organization representing Israeli construction companies sent a letter to the Israeli Deputy Health Minister, seeking vaccines for some 65,000 Palestinians with permits to work inside of Israel. The Times of Israel reported the letter, from the Israel Builders Association, noted: “In light of the close and years-long partnership between the Israeli employers and workers and the Palestinian workers at construction sites, we believe it would be just and moral to advance this.”
While no plan to vaccinate Palestinian workers was announced, the next day the Times of Israel found “some” Palestinians from the West Bank were able to get vaccinated by the Israeli medical system upon presentation of a work permit. The exact number of Palestinians that were able to get a jab of the Pfizer vaccine is unknown. The Times of Israel reported 400 at one location near Qalandiya checkpoint, the main crossing between the West Bank and Jerusalem. However, that number includes Palestinians with East Jerusalem IDs, who are already covered under the Israeli national vaccine campaign.
We’ll keep following this story. Some 120,000 Palestinians workers from the West Bank have permits to enter Israel.
Fourth demotion for West Bank hamlet
Palestinians inspect the rubble of houses that were demolished by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Hebron on February 3, 2021. (Photo: Mosab Shawer/APA Images)
While the pandemic is ongoing, demolitions have continued in remote corners of the West Bank. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem reported this week, the hamlet of Khirbet Humsah was demolished for the fourth time since last November.
Israeli forces “confiscated nine tents that were home to 61 people, including 33 minors, as well as 12 other structures which included shade sails, storage shacks and a water container,” according to B’Tselem.
“These actions – carried out in the midst of a humanitarian crisis caused by the pandemic — are part of Israel’s efforts to forcibly transfer the community on spurious pretexts of “military training” and “law enforcement,” B’Tselem said.
Mondoweiss’s Yumna Patel reported on two of the previous demolitions of Khirbet Humsah — once last week and once while the world was waiting on the results of the U.S. presidential elections.
That’s it. We’ll see you next week. Stay safe!
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