Jew World Order

The Latest:

• 341,175 Palestinians tested positive for COVID-19; 333,778 recoveries; 3,813 deaths
• Of those who tested positive, 199,666 live in the West Bank, 112, 668 live in Gaza, 28,841 live in Gaza
• 839, 747 Israelis tested positive for COVID-19;  833,061 recoveries; 6,428 deaths

Hours after Israel announced a deal this morning where Palestinians would receive “between 1 million and 1.4 million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine presently in stock in Israel,” the agreement was canceled by Palestinian officials. The doses were to come from an Israeli reserve of excess vaccines that would expire if not used “soon,” according to the statement.

Palestinian Minister of Health Mai al-Kaila said this afternoon shortly after the first shipment of 100,000 doses was transferred into the West Bank, “the specialized teams at the ministry of health found that the vaccines we received today from the Israeli side did not meet the specifications of the deal, so the government decided to return them.”

While Palestinians have long called for Israel to step in and provide vaccine cover, something that has happened in the past, the deal was not a straightforward act of charity. In exchange for transferring the doses, Israel would receive a replacement allocation from Pfizer, matching the amount it releases to the Palestinians. Those new vaccines, with a later expiration date, are due to arrive in September and October 2021.

Reuters reported the idea for the vaccine exchange was first proposed by Pfizer.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh officially put the kibosh on the agreement, calling for the “immediate cancellation of the agreement,” on Friday.

The deal and subsequent fallout came at the same time that Israel dropped its last major public health policy. As of Tuesday Israelis are no longer required to mask indoors as that most of the population has been vaccinated and new infections have subsided.

Physicians for Human Rights – Israel commented on Twitter:

According to Haaretz, this arrangement would have also looped in doses of Pfizer the Palestinians were expecting from deals they independently lined up with the vaccine manufacturer. Meaning, any vial of Pfizer in the pipes earmarked for the Palestinians would go to Israel instead. In turn, Palestinians would receive Israel’s leftovers nearing expiration.

The amount would have been a hefty boost to the stalled rollout run by Ramallah and Gaza. Thus far 225,700 doses from a variety of manufactures have been delivered to Gaza and 557,700 to the West Bank. More than 436,000 Palestinians have received at least one dose, of whom 383,984 are fully vaccinated. “These figures represent around 8.7% of the total Palestinian population,” the World Health Organization said in their latest situation report. 

In the last week, 100,000 doses of Russia’s new single dose vaccine Sputnik-Light, were delivered to the West Bank. 

93% of Palestinian COVID-19 cases are in Gaza

In the last week, two trends continued that we identified over the past few weeks. First, health officials in the West Bank do seem to finally have the pandemic under control. There are currently only 267 confirmed active cases, which prompted officials to announce ending a months-long state of emergency in July. Yet in Gaza, new cases are climbing and limited testing continues to mask the full spread of the virus. 

From this week to last week there was a 40% increase in deaths. As of yesterday, Gaza has 3,277 active cases, representing 93% of all new Palestinian COVID-19 cases. According to the WHO, these figures come at a time where testing has declined to an average of 921 lab tests per day (so a third of the number of tests run before hostilities with Israel in May. 

The positivity rate remains high in Gaza, at 21% compared to 1.5% in the West Bank. 

Exit permits stuck in the mail

Palestinians in Gaza are without mail service. The process requires a transfer of parcels and letters through an Israeli checkpoint, which has not resumed operations to early-May levels since a ceasefire was declared at the end of last month. This most acutely impacts Palestinians seeking travel, even those with terminal illnesses who are waiting on permits to exit Gaza on humanitarian grounds for treatment in Israeli hospitals. 

This week the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor sent a letter to the Universal Post Union Director General Bishar Abdirahman Hussein, stating “Amongst these restrictions imposed by Israel is a blanket ban on mail delivery to and from Gaza through the Israeli-controlled border crossing Erez – the crossing from which Israel controls virtually all access to/from Gaza.” 

The Gaza-based human rights group added, “This abrupt suspension of mail delivery has harmed numerous people, including those waiting to receive their passports from foreign embassies in Israel or the occupied West Bank to travel for humanitarian purposes, such as studies abroad, family unifications or receiving locally-unavailable medical treatment.”

How much damage?

This week there are two new reports that caught our eye that explain how extensively damaged Gaza’s infrastructure currently is after the 11-day escalation in May. During the hostilities, we covered electrical lines, and water supplies were severely impacted, but we’re now beginning to see a more concrete picture about what was destroyed. 

Al Mezan released a detailed audit that found 13 wells, three desalination plants, and 250,000 meters of water pipes across Gaza were damaged or destroyed in Israeli airstrikes. 

A single strike to just one well near Gaza City cut off supply to 120,000 people.

“Early estimates suggest that the total cost of damage exceeds 20 million USD for [water supply networks in] the municipality of Gaza City—water supply networks, sewage networks, water wells, sewage pumps, municipal facilities and vehicles, roads and sidewalks, electricity networks, and administrative buildings,” Al Mezan reported. 

Most of the losses were around Gaza City, the Strip’s most populous urban center and in the northern district close to the border with Israel. This lines up with what areas sustained the most building damage from bombings. 

The Global Shelter Cluster published a report this week identifying where airstrikes landed and how they impacted housing. 

The consortium of American, Canadian, and international development agencies found most of the damage was in Gaza City and the northern neighborhoods. At least 19,332 housing units were damaged from airstrikes and shelling, and 200 buildings were leveled, of which, many were multi-unit residential buildings. A total of 1,019 housing units across Gaza were destroyed.

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